EDITON
Local, State
And National
News, Features
VOLUME 20 NUMBER ftl
SATtntDAT, DBC. 23rd 1939
miCE SEVEN CEMtS
WPA POLITICS GET MITCHELL IN BAD
Congressman
May Face WPA
Committee
by albert ANDERSON
WASHINGTON, (A N P)—
Stunned at the «en«ational ex
pos® f the Chica^ D^ily Neyra,
in which the name ol Congrewi-
Arthur W. Mitchell fijfures
prominently in a controveray
over the political «spects of the
WPA and the obtalninif Jobs
through conjrressional assistance,
Wa«e Washinarton waits the «e-
cond act in this remarkable
drama.
In the laat session of Congrew
special |mpbasls ^as placed up
on political influence® in WP[A
and a specific clause inserted,
making the intercession of Con
gressman or any other offieials
in the appointments to WPA a
felony, punishable by a fine or
an impriflonment or both.
Addressed to a white voter in
the l»t ward of Chicago, Mr.
Mitchell’a own district, • the letter
as putb%lied in the Chicago
daily is aS follows:
“I am In receipt of yo«r
leter of Nov. 1 and in yeply I
write to say that I shall be very
glfcd to take your case uj>« with
tha WPA if you will get » latter
from your ward Committee
man, requesting me to handle
this matter for you.
"It is an unbroken rule of
Democratic organization in Chi
cago, that each person seeking
help from his eongressman must
first get a letter from his ward
committeeman requesting the
eongressman to take care of
tha matter, 1 must, therefore,
insist that yau get a letter from
youx committeeman, first, an-d
then I shall be very glad to do
evei^thing in my power to help
you. '
•'With very beat wlaheA, I lift*.
Cordially and sincerely yours,
, ARTHUR W. MITCHHLL."
Written-^n gificial stationery,
the lettet- Is being offered as
evidence that politic« is rife in
the WPA setup in Illinois, but
the fact that the only Negro
congressman now in office * is
party to i^. has even the atadiest
residenta registering amazement.
Conjecture Ts rife as to whe
ther Mr. Mitrhell will be called
before the congressional' com
mittee investigStftig WPA activi
ties in certain states, including
Illinois. '
An attempt to • ontact Col.
Harrington and Howard W. Hun
ter, his assistant administrator
of the WPIA, on Saturday for
an opinion in the matter were
futile, althougli Alfred W. Smith
of the race relations division
made several attem^ita secnre
such an appointment. -...™
It has been rumored, however,
that a supoena will be issued by
the Congressional committee on
WPA for Congressman Miitchell
to appear before it early in
January.
TO ATTEP® CONCLAVE
Moore Shearin, secretary-
manager of the Soathern Fide
lity and Insurance Company and
former Grand Polemrach of tl>e
Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, who
will head the North Carolina
delegation to I>allas where th*
annual session will be held D»c.
27-80tb.
McNutt Passes^
Buck On Jim
GrowOuestion
fredids Aiili'
lyncli Bill
Palsage;
HAMMOND, Ind. — The
Gavagan Fish federal Anti^lyneh
ing bill, which comes up for a
vote on the floor of the House
January 8, will pass by overwhel
ming majority.
Will She Be
GokireiMIr
While?
OBlIRiUNi, O., (ANP)—rac
ing the nacasaity of daelding
wheter a child should be raised
as white or coloired, Common
Pleas Judge D. A. Cook last
week declared that never before
had he been called upon to de
cide a case with such ar reach
ing racial, social and hutnani-
tarian eonsiderationa.
The child-two years old pretty
fair^nned afid «urly haired,
waa left motherless by a gas
e^loaion last month in her mo
ther’s home. The child's father
is colored, wh^se cuAtody is also
being sought by the family of
the white mother, who now ace
temporarily carfng fo¥ the little
charge.
Atty. Eva Parker of Oberlin,
thv father’s lawyer, told Judge
Cook she believed it best for the
child’s.future that aha b« rear-
erby colored. Aitty. Samuel
Deutach, representing the white
mother’s family, maintains that
inasmuch as the child is to jU
appearances, of the white race,
it should be reared as white.
Therela lies th« iaau« that
challenges th* wisdom of a
modern Solomon. Judge Cook
says that both sides in the con
troversy ara without bitterness
and interested only in what is
best for the child. He said they
had agreed to abide by his de-
NEW YORK — That Social
■Security AdnfTnletrator Paul V.
McNutt will leave the matter of
stopping diacriminatory practices
governing the empteymein’t of^
Negroes in the personnel a^*-^
^||a‘Vitration of social securil^
benefits in the' States, entirely
up to atate officials, was indicatr
©d in an exchange of correspon
dence between McNutt and the
National Association for the Ad-
v&rtceinent of Colored People.
In a letter «ddreiaed to the
A^dmitiistrator November 2l> the
Association sought to have the
Social Security Board revihe its
standards for a merit system of
personnel administration, by in
serting a ‘clause probiting dis--
crimination agaimat any person
on account ot or color.
The Association conteneded
that t\)e rules adopted by the
Board November I, 1939, offer
no protection -whatever against
employing Negroes in the various
state agencies set up to carry
out the operations of the Social
'Security Act, because the only
grounds on which discrimdnation
ia prohibited are religious and
political.
Passing the buck to the states,
McNutt said in a reply sent to
the As»ociatiifli Dm. 9:
"The states are now in the
pnttaees of formulating the^r
rules and' regulations ai*d you
may thcrrfore wish to have your
local representatives make con
tacts with the appropriate state
officials.”
(Blasting away the ground
from under M'cNutt’s statement,
the NAAiCP said
"It ia utterly futile in most
instances for ^Negroes to make
any appeal to public officials and
state civil service commissions
in those states of the deep South
where the majority of Negroes
live. The discrimination is in
direct ratio to the density of the
Negro populatit)n.”
Placing the basis for action
squarely on the Social Security
administrator, the NAACP sbait-
ed; .... _.. «.»«..
“The chief weapon against
this discrimination is the power
out of Washington. You can
thus understand pur great dis-
appointiment that you, as Ad>
minlstrator Qf Federal Security
Agency^ decline to amend the
standards by asking that they
(the Board) prohibit discrimina
tion on account of race and
color a^ well as on account of
religious belief.”
This, was the precWti^n made
Sunday by Repreeejwative Wsn.
T. Schulte, who was the chief
speaker at a meeting held at the
St. John A ME Zion church here
to launch the annual member
ship drive of the Rammond
branch of the National Associa
tion for the Advancement of
Colored People.
I Praising the leadership given
to the long fight to pass the
bill by Walter White, executive
secretary of the Aesociation,
Schulte said that he, together
with a great many Congressmen,
had cooperated in fighting for
the bill. Other speakers at th«
meeting included: , ;
cision in- ths matter.
t;P'
MAKES ANNOUNCEMENT
To Forni ^
Health Bill
Com m ittee
NEW YORK — The following
national organizations have re
sponded to call sent ^out by the
NAiAiCP to fprm a coordinating
committee to consider the inclus
Please turn to page eight
Mrs. jacquelin DeShazor Jack
son, general manager and
supervising insbruictress of the
D« Shazor Beauty College, who
announced this week the addi
tion of three special instructors
in chemistry, business and slsc-
tricity to vthe beauty collage
faculty. . The new special in-
etructore are Dr. L. H. Knox,
Prof. I. Boyd Ogle«by ai^d Prof.
Jv H. Nance.
Eagles
Squad .
To show tTieIr appreciation of
the wonderful showing made by
the «. C. ^G«llege foorDball team,
« group of fans, lad by E. R.
Merrick, sponsored n banquet in
honor of Coach Burghard: and
the football squad Tuesday night
Dec. 19 in the auditorium of the
N. C. Mutual Ufa Insurance
Company.
Words of congratulations were
spoken by R. L. McDougald, R.
N. Harris, J. M. Hubbard, and
r. R. Strowd, all aluuni 6f the
N. C. College.
Responses were given by Dick
and George iffack, Walter War-
mick, "Dago” Johnson and Gena
Morse, of the football squad.
(All of the talks of both fans
and players were high ia their
prasises of Coach fiurghardt for
the excellent showing his teani
has made this year despite the
lack o reserve material.
In his rssponta. Coach Bur-
gherdt thanked, through those
present, the citizens of Durham
and the squad for the wonder
ful'spirit of cooperation and
support which he received this
year and further stated that he
was well satisfied with the
showing whicTi the team has
made. Next year, he concluded,
with a few move men added to
th^ squad, the Eagles sheuld
have a banner year.
Master of ceremenies fr.r the
occasion was S. R. Marrkk,
Secretary and Treasureif Oi the
N.JC. Mutual Life Insurauce Co
MARRIAGE ANNOUNCED
Insistant rumors that Miss
Katie Kelly, pretty physical edu
cation instructor at North Caro
lina College fo^r Negroes was
last week when intimaites receiv
ed announcements of a recep
tion honoring Mrs. Katie Kelly
Martin and Rr. Felix Breaux
secretly married were confirmed j Martin. The reception will be
given by Mr. aird Mrs. Arthur
Prescott Mack on Wednesday,
evening at the Arkoma, Tuske-
gee, Alabama. — -
Whether or not Mrs. Martin
will continue at her cfuties at
the loeal colTege could not be
learned but is thought that she
will continue tHn>ugh the cur
rant year.
San Antonio
Plans Great
Kappa Conclaye
SAN ANTONIO, (ANP) fraternity.
iijc
With Mayor Maury Maveri
and his commissioners “coopera-
j ting in every manner,” the peo
ple of this city are excitedly
j awaiting the coming™ of the
Kappa; Alpha Psi fraternity next
week when some 500 delegates
will meet here in the 29th an
nual grand chapter of the or
ganization. ■ '
The jiession will open’ on Dec.
f7 and continue to the30, and,
although the order is to “go
Whil* delegates will move in
G-Men Told 01
N. C. Peonage
easy” on the social affairs, the during Thursday they
arrangements committee is hav- nevertheless will be kept on th'e
mg a difficult time keeping the % piea,e turn to page eight
NEW YORK — Tbe Depart- reveals that the insertion of such
me’nt of Justice at Washington notices, reminkent of slavery
was' asked by the NAACP this! area of North Carolina. Al-
week to investigate an apparent though suitji .-practices long ago
condition of peonage in, the * were" outlawed by the Supreme
vkinity of Yanceyville, N. C. j court, the North Carolina inveeji
I gator reported that the people
from all directions, the ain J The NAACP request,' sent ignored this fact and
group of visitors will travel on to Henry A. Schreinhaut, head judges and politicians had
the “Keppa Special” over the of the Civi liberties unit of the i a contrary
Missouri Pacifiic from Saint Department of justice,- cited an ‘
Louis. Nearly 20D people will advertisement which appeared
come by this route*, leaving St, recently in the Yanceyville Cas-
Louis next Tuesday afternoon well Messenger ap follows:
and arriving here about 24
hours later. On this train will
be grand board of directors.
I
Evan though the fraters will
ba moleated (?) with social
“NOTICE-I forbid any one
to hire or harbor Herman
Miles,.» colored during the
year 193^. A. P. Dabbs,
Rout 1, Yanceyville.”
The Chapel Hill, N. C. Week
ly investigated in the area cov-
manner. The NAACP urg«d the
Department of Justices to taka
actit'n under the peon^age laws.
Write* Book Of Bocn*
locals from planning too many
parties of one kin and another.
There will, be no social affair
during any of the business hours
however.
In expending the official wel
come of the city Mayor Mave
rick wrote to James E. Sc^t,
Washington, national head of
the Kappas;
“As miaqor of San Antonio I
want to I take this means of
thanking you ,for bringing your
national convention to San
Antonio.”
“Myself «nd the commission
ers will cooperate in every
manrfar to make yuor visit with
ut a success and we hope it will
reman a pleastn memory.”
Noted for his liberalism.
Mayor Maverick, former con-
grossman. Is expected to speak
at one of the jneetings of th#
GUTHRIE — ‘vui^g Leaves"
a new book of po«try by Mils
Ida Rowland* "in3truf;t»>r, at *an«
ston University has Just beea
ered by the advertisement *nd rejease by the publishers.
PICKWICKS, THEIR WIVES AND GIRL FRJENDS
Albovs is sTiown the Pickwick. , Lyles, A. S. Grier, L. D. Gner,
Bridgtf Club of Charlotte at a Roy Periy, Louise Harris, Earnest
recent baiiquet aponsored by the | Friday, T. B. Haypea, Xamas
grou^ at West Charlotte High | Taylor,- G- T. tvash, Harry MilB,
School. Prom lefl to right, fronit Misses Mary Lee Causer, Mes-
! row. Miss Lula Mae White, ' damea Calvin Edwards and C.
^Mesdames James Ross, John | R. Brewington
Back row, llessrs Friday, 1*
P. Harris, G- T. Na^, B*rm*4
Johnson, L. U. Grier, John
Roy Perry, A. S. Grier, J*
Ross^ Janies Taylor, C. R.
in^ton, Harry Hills, Hanjr
Hendairson, and J. Cwwfat*.