MAY LOSE RECORDER OF DEEDS iHTiCE
MAILING
EDITION
■DEED
ei€im8
VOLUME xxm - NUMBER 16
DURHAM, North Carolina, SATURDAY, APRIL 24th, 1943
BUY WAR BONDS..
Race Workers Of Local Firm Share In A rmy-Navy A ward
DOOMED NAN
H1«H UGHTS OF A WARD CEREMONY
New
Before
C
0>
Congress May
Abolish Office
TIic two photos at the top were taken during
the ceremony here last Saturday wlien the
Wriffht Automatic Machinery Company was
presented the Army-Navy “E” Award, the
highest STovernment recognition for a company
engaged in war production.. At the top is the
flag being received by a representative of the
large group of employes or tlie company. Th«
photo in the middle is the Navy Pj:e>Flight
band, as'their director awaited the signal from
the Master of Ceremonies to begin the opening
number. At the bottom are i^Dresentatives of
the Negro workers of the company with their
much beloved boss, L. L. McClintock, general
manager of the company. All of these men are
proudly wearing the coveted “E” pin as a token
of their earnest and faithful endeavors in be
half of their company’s effort to produce more
and more for the nation’s wttr program.
Army Continues
Dodging^ Qualified
Colored' Flyers
BT LLEWiaj.TN RAKSOM
As Senator Dowuey makes hia
ud £oc a Salute inveati^a*
tion of discrimination in ihe
artmed forces, one of the most
unbelievable cases of cold
8hoiild(;riiig is .brought to light.
It is the case of James I* H
I^eok, a hero to -any Aiuerieau
boy, who has been given the run
around by the Army Air^Forees
since before Pearl Harbor.
Younp Peck, strong and heal
thy, has over a thousand hours
of flying to his credit. In defensr
of Spain in when it was
being made a proving ground
for world slaughter, he 'brought
down Nazi and Italian plane?.
As a lieutenant pursjiit piK»t
Peck flew efght types of French,*
English, and I^ussian planC'f,
engaged in seven combats, forty,
convoy missions, five strafing
missions and eleven attacks ou
Fascist ships at sea. He bombed
enemy bases many times. With
this experience, were there no
color bar. Peck would to_day_^ be
a colonel in our air force.
And stiM there-is much more
about our young ace that makes
him worthy of better treatment
He is the author innummer-
newspaper and magazine article.^
on aviation- bolh in the popular
and professional vein. To'th"
amateur he is a source of inter
est, entertainment and instruc
tion. To the professional he is a
skilled airman and an authority
on military air strategy. His ar
ticles have been reprinted in
“Readers’s Digest,” the “Sci
ence Digest” the “London Sun
day Chronicle,” and in “Panor
ama,” and anthology, published
in 1940. Peck writes for soeh
magazines as “Harpers,” ‘Look’
“Popular Science” Monthly as
well as many aviation and tech
nical magazines. He is now fly
ing editor of “Air News” on
temporary leave to finish a new
book. His article! have appeared
in the New York Times and
“P. M,”
Peck, who Is listed in Who’s
Who and written up in “Cnrr-
tent Bitograph” with G«nera!l
James H. Doolittle is the author
of two widely read books on
aviation. Of his first book
“Armies with Wings,” written
in 1940, the Boston Transcript
said: “One of the better books
on war-time flying. If you want
Please turn to Page Two
Payroll Record Saves
Mari From^ Death In North
Carolina Gas Chamber
WASHINGTON, (Special) —
The office of Recorder of Deeds
for the District of ("olumb a,
which has T)t^n headed by
Negro since 186f), will pa'^s
from Negro "hands to the con
trol of the District Comniission-
ers, under provisions contained
in the District Appx'opriation
bill n. B- 251,3, which has just
be^n presented to ('ongres«.
The l»ill, which Congress will
pass next week, unless Negroe»
rally their opposition, slashes
the personnel of the Recorder’s
office, and would transfer tlie
handling of its accounts and the
disbursing of its funds from
the Recorder to the District
Commissioners.
Present laws require t h
Recorder’s accounts to be audit
ed by the General Accounting
Office, the Federal Bureaa
which audits all Governmental
Accounts,
To transfer this function to
the municipal authorities would
rid th^ office of itS; national
importance and reducb it to a
lesser bui'eau under District
supervision, which is wha^ the
(Di^trifct OommfSsTortersI have
been urging for the past twenty
years.
The obnoxious provisions of
the bill were inserted at the in-
sistelfce of the Commissioners
who have tried year after year
to gain control of various de
partments in the Recorder’s
office.
Negroes throughout the cou»i-
try have always prided them
selves in the fact that the Re
corder of Deeds was one Negn*o
official with anthorlty to hire
his own personnel lEind to dis
burse his own funds. The Bill
provides:
“That funds appropftated
herein and hereafter for the
Office of Recorder of Deeds
shall be drawn from the Trea
sury of the United States only
on requisitions approved hy the
Commissioners of the District
of Columbia and disbursed by
the disbursing officer of the
District of l?olumbia upon
vouchers previously audited and
approved by^The auditor of the
District of Columbia.”
The appropriation for salaries
is reHuced by $12,270, which
would make compulsory the dis
charge of approximate!^ ten
employees who cannot obtain
jobs in District Government be
cause of Ihe Commissioners'
anti-raeial policy.
The bill is'^usmg grave con
cern among politicians and New
Dealers have been warned that
many votes will be lost among
(Continued on Page Three
A and t Inaprates
Army Sp«cia!ized
Training Program
The Agriculturnl and TeChni
cal College t>f >Tprth Carolifiii
officially inaugurated the Army
Sf ecialized Training Program
when Dr. F. D. Bluford, presi
dent of the college and Lt, Col.
Basil A. Wood, contracting offi
cer of the fourth service cont-
mand, signed the Letter of In
tent on April 16.
A. and T. College is one of
the eighteen schools in the na
tion, and the only Negro inst
itution, to be selected by the
War Department as a Speciat-
'zed Training Assignment and
Reclassification Unit. The ag^
•ftement provides fflk* the train
ing, testing, classification, and
issignment of Army Special
ized Training Program trainees
lot to exceed five hundred 'a
iny one time. The first unit wil?
irrive at the college on or
tbout April 19.
ACCLAIMED 1
Buy WAR BONDS..
REV. JAMES A. BROWN,
assistant pastor of the Mount
Vernon BsRtist church of this
city, whose reoejit sermon on
“The Xongae” is being acclaim
ed as one of the most forceful
ever delivered by a young min
ister in Durhitm. Mt. Vernon,
one of the largest churches of
the city has produced mare
successfnl ministers than any
l ether church in Durham.
New York, N. Y.—An uneon^
itional pardon has been granted
William Maiaon Wellman, lab
orer. who was convicted on
charges of rap« and sentenced
death here by Governor J. M.
Broughton of North CalMina.
Representing Wellman wa» >-
sea Van Buren Price, atfoi
for the Winston-Salem M» A.
C, P. Branch.
On learning of the par-u .
Walter White, executive oi*-
retary of the N. A. A. C. F
Hent the following telegram to
Gnivemor Broughton:
“On behalf of National As
sociation for the Advancement
of Colored People whose mem
bership is biracial with maay
members in the S«>uth. we ex
press our deep appreciatio*
to you for your courageous' ac*
tion in granting an uncondit
ional pardon to William Well
man^ This act will increaatf
faith of thirteen million Ameri*
can Negroes and many whita
Americans in the Democratit
process. We are proud to have
worked with you in seeing that
justice was done to a man wlio
was innocent of the crime of
rape with which he was eharp-
ed.”
Wellman was convicted of
the rape of a 67-year old whit*
Please torn to Page Two)
LocalCompany Has Over
One Million In War Bonds
■ ■
t> 8 TitEiisum eoNCS f
■■■■ir
'Til'TMfi
TWf ^
Further evidencing the fact
that North Carolina Mutual Life
Insurance Company is going
“all out” in support of the na-
ion’s war effort, we reproduce
a fascimile of a check repre
senting the purchase by the
compny of $200,00(y jn War
Bonds in the second National
bond drive. This is the second
large purchase of bonds by
North Carolina Mutual, having
purchased $100,000 worth of
bonds in the first drive.
In 'commenting on the pur
chase of these bonds. President
Spaulding stated that the com
pany feels it is an obligation
as well as a privilege to sup
port the Nation in everjr possi
ble way in its efforts to preser*
ve the democratic form of life;
that Negroes throughout the
Nation are supporting the ef
fort to rid the world of ruth
less agression on the part of
nations that find themselves
helpless in the grip of misguid
ed dictators who are bent upon
destroying all that civiliiation
has accomplished that their
own selfish ambitions may be
gratified.
North Carolina Mutual has
well over one and thraa
million dollars inwitcd iai
Bonds and other
seeorties. ftrrnrdit: to
dent Spaulding tfte
will eontinne to aid
port the GoveraMMt to
extent of ita abDAjr and
as the Nation ftada
need of IbMnc
While Norti
alhaa welcaB«d tlM
to thus inved im.
urity, it by nfi
mto the f
por^hat N«po^jjf
P!ea»« tatalK 'lM