1939-05-12

The Portland Observer Publlsbed Frid.a.y of ea.ch week at Portland, Oregon. WILLIAM H. McCLENDON, Editor and Publisher. Editorial Office-1504 N. Williams Avenue Porlland, oregon. Phone EAst 0949. All news and editorial matter should be addressed toP. 0. Box 3728 WE MUST WAKE UP I Some Negroes in the state of Oregon are seem-' ingly devoid of ambition. Few, if any, of the members of this group have put forth any special effort to bet– ter their social and economic status. There is an alarming percentage of members within thfs group who are content to sit idly by while they are gradual– ly restricted to employment in a few stereotype jobs such as domestic help, servants and the like. In some instances this listlessness can be explain– ed by citing the fact that the majority of Negroes in this locality are lacking in preparation necessary to hold positions that demand technical or scientific training. A limited number have been trained to per– form certain types of professional work. These can– not follow the professions in which they have effi– ciently prepa1·ed themselves because there is no politi– cal cohesion within the Negro group as a whole. Con– sequently, there are practically n oopportunities for employment open for Negroes along professional lines, especially where political affiliations could prove beneficial. Negroes in this community have further retarded their progress by attempting to acquire special train– ing in a few professions. This program can no longer be followed. There must be earnest attention given to every phase of employment so long as it shows an inkling of a chance for advancement. Negroes can– not pick any one field of endeavor on which to concen– trate their energies as theywill usually find upon com– pletion of their education a tremendous amount of envy, jealousy and ignorance which will tend to dwarf their personalities and distort their senses of percep– tion. The short-comings of the Negro group stand out for themselves. The few who have a social insight know that suspicion and distrust creates strife and conflict. The developing of a philosophy that will OVel':she:fdovv-Lhese-idioeyncrasie§ iS necessary if politi– cal unity and economic security are to be realized. James T. Taylor Eleded President Tuskegee Institute, Ala., May 11.-The National Association of Personnel Deans and Advisers of Men closed its fifth annual confer– ence here Saturday, April 29, with the election of Dean James T. Taylor, North Carolina College for Negroes, Durham, N. C., to the presidency, succeeding Dean William B. West, Howard Uni– versity, who had completed the two terms in office allowed by the Con– stitution. Retiring Presiddent West was given a vote of thanks by the body for his contribution to the many constructive measures inaugurated and carried through during his ad- ministration. Dewington, J enn.; Howard Uni– versity, Washington, D. C.; A. and T. College, Greensboro, N. C.; North Carolina College, Dur– ham, N. C.; Knoxville College, Knoxville, Tenn.; Dillard Uni– versity, New Orleans, La.; Ingle– side Free Seminary, Burkeville, Va.; Virginia University, Rich– mond, Va. ; \Viley College, Mar– shall, Texas; Langston University, Langston, Okla. ; State Teach– ers College, Montgomery, Alaba– ma; Shaw University, Raleigh, N. C.; Prairie View State College, Prairie View, Texas; A. and I. College, Nashville, Tenn.; More– house College, Atlanta, Ga.; Lin– coln University, Jefferson City, Mo.; Fisk University, Nashville, Tenn.; Tuskegee Institute, Tuske– gee Institute, Alabama. The Deans accepted the invita- Missouri Croppers tion of North Carolina College to Still Homeless convene there next year. A second invitation came from Prairie View State College. Hope was expressed that Prairie View would repeat the invitation next year so that the Association might meet year after next in Texas. Dorena, Mo., May 11.– (CNA) .-Misery is still the lot of the Southern Missouri sharecrop– pers who last winter camped on the cold highways after being driv– en from the cotton plantations. / THE PORTLA1'-ID OBSERVER City Hall Topics And Other Views by Ralph C. Clyde City Comminioner SOFT BALL Webfoot Camp, WOW, 1s deeply interested in the matter of enclosing Buckman Field. H. L. Barbur, Clerk of the Camp, wrote the City Council on \Vednesday, that the Camp has two teams for the Portland Softball season that have raised considerable money for lights and they believe that Buck– man Field could be improved by being enclosed. The matter was referred to Commissioner Bennett, who has charge of the Bureau of Parks, for investibation and report. • • • • AUTO RACE TRACK Mrs. G. E. Richards, Secretary of the University Park Commun– ity Club, 7466 N. Syracuse St., be– lieves that it is high time to clamp down on the matorists who are making a race track out of Russett Street. The Club believes that with summer approaching, it is more hazardous for the children to reach Columbia Park as the auto– ists are very reckless and are a menace to the neighborhood. In concluding, Mrs. Richards writes to the City Council : "The Uni– versity Park Community Club ·wishes to call this to your atten– tion, and we are satisfied that the fault will be corrected and the danger removed." The matter was referred to Mayor Carson. .. * • • ODORS - ent-day philanthropists have lost I Observer strayeJ or stolen. Harry, as a member of a delegation, made a Observations stenorian talk on Wednesday in J the City Council advocating the "Bn,L MAc" An issue of grave concern to young parents is that related to child guidance. An alarming per– centage of parents know little if anything about the various psy– ological methods and educational filling in of Mock's Bottom to pro– vide a playground for the children of the University district. He said Simon . Bension gave us Benson Park, and the late Sam Jackson gave us the Ham Jackson Park, and Mrs. Amanda Reed gave us R d C 11 H k d "Wh processes that must be resorted to ee o ege. e as e , ere oh where is a philanthropist of to- \ in order to produce successful citi– day who will donate Mock's Dot- zens in this present complex society. tom to the people? i The ability to impart an effective • • • • and satisfactory knowledge of sex SUMMER WATER RATE to children is noticeably lacking. It is not unusual to find children The following extracts from an article by B. F. Irvine, which re– cently appeared in the Oregon Journal regarding the summer water rate are self-explanatory: "Portland and surrounding ter– ritory may be beautified during the forthcoming summer by the gener– ous use of water at a very much reduced rate. This plan, if adopt– ed by the City Council, will en– able the home owner to use twice as much ,.,.·ater as he used during June, July, August and September, 1938, and pay half-price for the additional water." "This is a far-seeing plan pro– posed by Commissioner Clyde, and if adopted, it will result in a vast improvement of lawns, flower gar– dens and shrubbery because the home owner can afford to use the water at the reduced rates, and the sale of surplus water will increase the revenue of the city's Water Bureau. The plan would mean much to Portland." "This is to be a summer when Portland, like other Northwest cities will be on parade before the thousands of visitors to the world's fairs. It will mean much to show them fresh, green lawns, wel-kept gardens, flower beds and shrubbery. It will give Portland a distinction and a name that will spell much for the future." Not.e: The City Coun<til adopted this plan by unanimous vote. who have reached the ripe old ages of eight or nine so well versed on the intricacies and hitherto adult phases of sex that companions can be found only in a more advanced group. In the majority of these cases the parents are at fault. In the parents attempts to be ultra– modern and sophisticated they have not only supplied the child with answers to its various inquiries, but they have furnished it with facts and knowledge far too dense for any adolescent ,or premature mind to wade through intelligently. Some parents have even had their children to delve deep into the practical and realistic realms of sex when they were aware of the fact that the child was wholly un– able to comprehend the true mean– ing and implications of what they were being taught. W. 0. Flint, 024 S. W. Sher– man St., E. S. Lindsay, 17 S. W. Sherman St., J. T. Gadwood, S. W. Caruthers St., headed a list of 43 petitioners requesting the re– moval of unnecessary odors, as well as calling attention to the unsani- tary condition of a hide busin<;ss at 'INTERRACIAL UNITY 2322-2338 S. W. Front St., which MARKS smmE the petitioners claim is also a fire The result of unfolding know– ledge of this sort to children vol– untarily and without a reason of– ten leads them to believe it is a part of their home socialization pro– gram. Consequently, it usually brings about a startling awakening for other children ·who come in con– tact with these astute adolescents during school and play hours. The calmer, more conscientious parents are then faced with the stark, dreadful problem of erasing from the minds of their children this so– called "~rush" which they have in– nocently picked up. In their at– tempts to successfully remove these distorted concepts they meet with grave difficulty. First, because first impressions are lasting ones; secondly, they never know what thoughts were imparted and what vernacular the informer employed to convey his ideas to their chil– dren; thirdly, it is impossibl eto de– termine the psychological effect upon the child. hazard. They say that the warm weather causes this place to be smelled before it is seen. These petitioners, in a footnote to the City Council says: "If you will in– vestigate this place, you will find that it is an awful place for big blow flies and awful odors." Com– missioner Riley, to whom this was referred for investigation, will have to wear a gas mask if it is as bad as the petitioners claim it is. I am thankful it 1s not in my depart– ment. • • • • LOSE SLEEP A protest with 64 signers was presented to the "City Dads" on Thursday against a sawmill doing business at 5242 S. E. 72nd Ave– nue. The complaintants say that, "Sawing commences at 7 a. m. and continues, with time off for lunch, until 10 o'clock in the evening." Miss Mae Booth, 5310 S. E. 72nd Ave., Mr. and Mrs. E. M. An– drews, and Mr. A. Peters, headed the list of petitioners who claim that, "The noise produced is loud, rancorous and nerve-racking." Ac- Richmond, Va., May 11.– (CNA) .-Complete solidarity be– tween Negro and white workers marks the strike of -,050 employes at the local Liggett and Myers plant in the first strike against one of the "big three" among cigarette manufacturers called by the AFL Tobacco Workers International Union in the past 39 years. The plant manufactures Ches– terfield, Fatima and Piedmont cigarettes and Velvet smoking to– bacco. The Durham, N. C. plant of Liggett & Myers is also closed by a strike. For the first time in Richmond's history, Negr~ and white men and women are picketing together, side by side. Negotiations bet1veen the com– pany and union representatives broke down when the management refused to submit the differences to an impartial board. The union seeks seniority rights for union members, and a five per cent wage increase for all workers. There are many other implica– tions that spring from this nusleus. For parents who feel unequipped to guide their children through this period of early childhood and adolescence, the advice of the fam– ily physician should be sought. In addition to this, there are many child-welfare and social organiza– tions, national in scope, that will gladly supply almost all informa– tion desired. Anti-Fascist Vets Back from Spain New York, May 11.-(CNA). -Three Negro veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade were among the 29 men who arrived here this week on the S. S. Presi– dent Harding folloging their re– lease from Franco prisons. Back Illinois Bill To End Jim-Crow Housing Springfield, Ill., May 11.– (CNA).-Sharp demands for the passage of Senate Bill 14, outlaw– ing restrictive housing covenants, were made this week by Negro and white civic leaders at the hearing on the bill before the Senate Hous- Ickes Brands Nazi Race Theory 'Neo-Barbarism' New York, May 11.-(CNA). -Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes branded the "nco-barbarism" of fascism in a vigorous attack up– on Nazi race superiority theories in an address here before the Ameri– can Guild for German Cultural ing Committee. Freedom at the \Valdorf Astoria The bill was introduced by Hotel. State Senator William A. Wallace, I The address was broadcast over Negro Democrat from Chicago's the NBC Blue Network. South Side. Under its provisions, "Incertain countries in Europe any real estate sale, or lease con- I today, countries that once were the tract would be void if it forbade homes of enlightenment," Ickes occupancy of the premises by mem- said, "it is the fashion-or shall I bers of any particular race. Em- describe it as an ignis fatuus, the phasis was given to the need for marsh light of a dictator-to insist proper housing legislation for Ne- that culture is the production of a groes by the recent fire at 2953 S. pure race, particularly the special– Michigan Ave., Chicago, which ly-designated pure race." snuffed out th.e lives of sev~n col- I He attacked the "nco-barbarian ored tenants, ftve of them chtldren. • interpretation of history" that cui- Supporters of the Wallace bill ture is the product of a pure race, took pronounced issue with another with the consequence "as dictator– measure, Senate Bill 264, which ially stated, that every other race seeks to block extensino of the fed- and country is inferior. era! housing program for Chicago "No Pure Race' by allowing private corporations to "We here know better," he said. condemn land for building pur- "We do not claim to be a pure poses. race, since there is no such thing As the hearing on the bill to out- as a pure race. Our historians and law restrictive covenants began, our sociologists tell us that great Senator \Vallace received a tele- civilizations have always been the gram from Louis F. Budenz, edi-. product of ethnic and cultural mix– tor, and William L. Patterson, tures. Creative ideas spring from associate editor of the Chicago free contact between peoples; hence Daily Record , pledging support of we believe in social harmony and the paper to the measure. Patter- international cooperation." son, a former Harlem attorney, is On the heels of Ickes address, also associate editor of the Cru- the League for Industrial Democ– sader News Agency. racy announced the opening of a Senate Bill 264 was opposed by nation-wide campaign of popular the civic leaders on the grounds education to combat racial preju– that it was aimed at blocking fur- dice due to "increased Nazi and ther housing undertakings for the Fascist activity in the United underprivileged by giving private States." real estate interests the right to ------- condemn property for private pro– fits. Opponenst of the measure pointed out that under the bill the government could be blocked from acquiring aites for its projects. They warned it would be also used to crowd Negroes and low-salaried whites into rickety firetraps, by condemning buildings they now oc– cupy and replacing these with high– rent houses. Ousted Union Head Linked to Black Legion Milwaukee Parley Warns of Race Hate Milwaukie, Wis., May 11.– (CNA)-Fascist race hatred prop– aganda was assailed by the Rev. Charles C. Webber in-his opening addesss before the Wisconsin Con– ference for Peace and Democracy at the Pfister Hotel. "Intelligent people think that fascist propaganda is ridiculous but we have fascist forces here," said Rev. Webber. "Anti-Semitism, Negro discrimination and attacks Detroit, May 11.-(CNA) .- against trade A close link between Homer Mar- methods." unions are fascist tin, ousted president of the United · Auto Workers Union, and the no- New Preventative for torious Black Legion was revealed Grippe Announced this week with the arrest of several of Martin's lieutenants for distrib– "' Moscow, May 11.-{CNA).- uting a Black Legion leaflet, to The newspaper Isvestia reports a which the name of the Communist new preventative for grippe that Party had been forged. was developed by Soviet scientists during the serious epidemic of Feb– ruary and March. Labor leaders also charged that Martin and his aides were directly responsible for bringing the fascist agent, Rev. Gerald K. Smith, to Stay off date May 19. 0. F. C. Flint, Mich., to make an address W. C. dance, Italian Hall.-Adv. attacking the CIO. Wayne County Prosecutor Dun– can C. McCrea declared that the arrest of Martin's aides "followed an investigation by this office of the distribution of the leaflet which constitutes a criminal libel upon Maurice Sugar." The leaflet first appeared in the fall of 1935 when Sugar, labor attorney, was a candi– date for the Common Council. Representatives from 15 Colleges The conference, pronounced by the membership the most stimulat– ing in the history of the organiza– tion, brought to the Tuskegee cam– pus the deans and personnel direc– tors who are guiding and counsell– ing the young men on the campus of 15 Negro colleges. Messages and greetings came from 25 more. A survey this week showed that cording to the petitioners who live the penniless Negro and white in the neighborhood, it deprives families have become scattered many wage earners of restful sleep throughout the state, living on which is no necessary in the pur– scraps and sleeping in abandoned suit of their work. Union workers comprise 95 per cent of the plant, a,nd the union in– sists that in the event of lay-offs, non-union workers be dismissed first, since they "have shown no interest in seniority." They are Tom Brown of St. Louis, Edward Johnson of Colum– bus 0., and Claude Pringle of Bellaire, 0. All had been held in Spanish fas– cist concentration camps for more than a year. McCrea said that during the prosecution of the cases against members of the Black Legion, his office "discovered that while the leaflet appeared to have been issued by the Communist Party, it was actually prepared and distributed by members of the Black Legion who affixed the name of the Com- Talladega College, Talladega, Ala. ; Morgan College, Baltimore, Md. ; ArkansasA. and M. College, Pine Bluff, Ark.; Ft. Valley N. and I. School, Ft. Valley, Ga.; Johnson C. Smith University, Charlotte, N. C.; St. Augustine College, Raleigh, N . C.; St. Paul's School, Lawrenceville, Va.; Vir– ginia State College, Petersburg, Va.; Hampton Institute, Hamp– ton, Va. ; Dewington Ind. Sch., buildings. • • • • "The right to work or not to work is not an issue," declared W. 0. Hartbarger, head of the Rich– mond local of the union. "The The CIO tenant union has de– manded a federal investigation of charges that Missouri relief offi– cials withhold government surplus commodities until after they are spoiled, then dump them into the Mississippi River rather than give them to these hungry wayfarers. A poll conducted by the British Institute of Public Opinion show– ed that 87 per cent of the British voting population favored a mili– tary alliance of Britain, France and the Soviet Union. BUSINESS WOMAN Lillian V. Guest, 2294 S. E. 35th Place, has accepted the condi- tions imposed by a revocable per– mit and no notified the Council on union employes merely ask that Thursday. She has been granted since the non-union workers have permission to conduct a business of done nothing to establish seniority making garments for wholesale or- and refuse to do anything to keep ders at her home. Miss Guest seniority, that by their attitude they makes a good product and it will are making their own choice." only be a matter of time when she The Richmond plant, one of the will probably move into a factory. modern mass production factories • • • • employes white and Negro, men PHILANTHROPIST LOST and women, and has a weekly pay– Harry B. Baucus, 6119 N. Vil- roll of $30,000. Most of the Ne– lard Avenue wants to know if pres- groes are members of the union. The Friends of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade are now engaged munist Party to the leaflet. This in a whirlwind campaign to raise was done to discredit Mr. Sugar funds to provide for their rehabili- in the election campaign." tation. All the prisoners are in Distribution of the leaflets was bad health as aresult of the bad resumed recently following the food in the fascist camps and the ouster of Martin from the CIO refusal of the fascists to treat their auto workers union. wounds. In South Bend, Ind., the l(u Johnson and Pringle were cap- Klux Klan, Realm of Indiana, has tured in March 1938 and released a: leaflet in defense and support of on April 23 of this year. Martin who mthe Klan boosts as a "leader of labor," although the Stay off date May 19. 0. F. C. Klan always has been hostile to vV. C. dance, Italian Hall.-Adv. labor. AGREAT DRINK A MIGHTY FLAVOR Distributed bJ. the Portland Bottling Co. Portland, Ore. EAst 4194