JANUARY, 1/6,1930* NO. S. THE ANTI-SALOON: LEAGUE AND PROffiBmON . ' i ' 1 TTZ " TTT* TfTv v. The 24th National Conven tion of the Anti-Saloon Leagtie of America will be held in De troit, Jan, 14-19. In view of the perennial interest in Prohibi tion, we are giving here two articles—one an editorial fropi The American Issue, leading Prohibition organ, and the oth er a statement by Dr. Fosdicjc. These articles present the case of Prohibition from different angles but each is convincing in its way. . , THE CHURCH PACES FRONT • Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick, of New York, says: ' j “If you wish' my personal ‘ judgment ar» to the sort of pro gram that the "Christian Church as a whole will stand behind and should stand behind in dealing with this prohibition question, I can put it in a fejv sentences. “First: We will fight to the last ditch any step that looks like going back to the saloon. We know well that we have an unsatisfactory situation on oiir hands. We are not for a mo> ment content with it, but we know it is better than the thing we got rid of. . “Second,: So long as the pres ent laws.are op the books, we will stand Jot their observance and enforcement. We will no more supinely surrender to the lawlessness of .bootlegging than we supinely surrendered to the even more expensive and finan cially more ness of the o “ ?sfrhlrcl: There jwerful __ are "^some types of solution to which we will never consent, and one is nutting the government, state or national, into the liquor bus iness. We have refused so far to entrust the ownership and management of railroads to the government, although theoreti cal arguments make govern ment ownership and manage ment of railroads altogether reasonable- We have seen clear ly that the government is not yet fit to handle that; immense accession of economic power. Far less safe is it to make our national and State capitals the headquarters of the most cor rupting (bumness this country has ever seen. “Fourth: As to any altera tions in the law, we will trust them to those whom we know to be friendly to the law’s ma jor intent. There may well come a time when the law should be changed. No law is infallible. But whoever - proposes to con struct and carry through such alterations would better first of all persuade the people cf the Church that he is sym pathetic with the major aim for which the law originally was framed. “At the heart of the Chris +ian conscience of this country there is a conviction—make up vour mind to it—that the liquor traffic and the Christian Gos pel stand for two diverse and contradictory conceptions of personal and social life.”—Ohio Christian News, October 18, 1929. '"WHY AN ANTI-SALOON LEAGrUE? Until prohibition has ceased to be an issue, the Anti-Saloon League has a task to perform Notably ir its educational work, the provision of up-to date, accurate information on the varying phases of prohibi tion; its wide idistributilon jof literature upon this subject, its co operation with churches, or ganizations, speakers, publish ers, writers and newspapers, its use of the radkr and the mov ing picture, the Anti-Saloon League today is rendering vital service to those who realize the importance of an alcohol-free civilization in this country. The Anti-Saloon League is not a super-government. It is iot responsible for the enforce ment of the law. It does not dic tate to public officials concern ing their actions- It does not' control legislation nor elections.' t does, however, continually furnish its constituency and the public with authentic informa tion on the status of enforce ment activities, on the charac ter of legislation proposed 0r massed, upon the attitude and record of legislators and other officials. If it were not for thje service thus rendered it is ques tionable whether many citizens would know exactly what is be ing dorfe by those who are called their public servants. The Intensity with which pro-, hibition is opposed by a small well-financed and carefully or ranized group who are today he spokesmen for the outlawed brewers and vinters, is a meas-1 ure of the urgent need for an organization such as the An< M-Saloon l eague. The foes of prohibition are jghting the Anti-Saloon League desperately (because they rec ognize in It an intelligently dir rected, virile organization with but one single purpose—-the abolition of the liquor traffic. The assaults are tributes to its, success. If > lie foes of the Anti-ba loon League should succeed in disrupting this organization or in^friously reducing^ its effi ciency, tKe nullification, then the modification tamek mktfjmmi, tbe repeal of the prohibitory laws in States and the nation would ibe only a matter of a short time. The Anti-Saloon League is, in a peculiar way, not merely an agency of the Church, but by the official action of many de- j nominations, it is the actual re oresentative of those churches ;n the fight against the liquor 'nterests of the nation. The liquor problem is not parochial, ft is not denominational, It is not political in any partisan sense- It is a great social and moral question, affecting all churches, at1 communities, all classes. A question of this char acter can be solved not by indi vidual action, nor by local, de nominational, or other group action, but only by concerted action. Eternal vigilance is the orice of prohibition. So long as the anti-social foes of prohibi tion persist in their assaults lpon this public policy the An ti-Saloon League must fulfill its task. Only final victory can jus tify its forces in demobilizing or its friends in ceasing to sup oort it. YOUNG PEOPLE’S LEAGUE OF CATAWBA PRES TERY By Frank C. Shirley The next quarterly meeting of the Young People’s League will convene at Westminster church, Concord, N. C-, Saturday, Feb ruary 1st, 1930. One of the features of this meeting will be the discussion of the topic: ‘"Hie Three Most Urgent Needs of the Churches in Catawba Presbytery as Seen by the Young People.” The officers of the League are very anxious that this topic shall be thor oughly discussed. To that end, first, they are asking that each Society in the Presbytery dis cuss this topic in their local meeting on either the third or fourth Sunday in January. Having discussed the Subject in the local societies there will be a better background for the general discussion at the meet ing of the League. • (Continued on page 4) THE TENNESSEE 1N ItKKAClAL COM TFrom The Nashville Tennes seean, Jan. 9). . .jz me iiuerracial Commission of Tennessee will recommend 'that locai umia of the organMtatloifi carry ori three investigations* U)" be siate-wide intheirfinal Mope, as the result of a resolu tion adopted unanimously Wednesday afternoon by the commission before adjourning' its eleventh annual (all-day meeting, held at the Y.r M. C. A. The investigations will covert (1) Treatment of colored: passengers oh bus lines and iff the waiting rooms of bus sta tions. (2) Alleged unequal accom modations by railways, both as to coaches and at the depots, especially lof the Tennessee Central Railway. (3) Questionable showB giv en iby Negro performed at mid night for the entertainment of white people only. — ^ Recommendations that ' thje investigations be made 'were included in a report of therfind ing committee, unanimously Adopted. Members of the com mittee, which presented the report, are: James E Clarke, Mrs. Arch Tradwick, Mrs. Frankie Pierce and J. D. Rur< ton. I f Before adjournment of the 'Morning session, Dr.''James E "Clarke, of Nashville, Editor of the “Presbyterian Advance,” Chairman of the whitfe execu te committee, was elected racial group ler serve next meeting, to be held in Jan4 uary, 1931, at Nashville. Improved relationship be tween the two races was indi-i cated in the report of the find-i mg committee by Bishop I. Bj Scott of the African Methodist Murch. The report included de4 velopment of the interracial in terest during the past year and ?ince the tenth annual meeting. Tt also was suggested that the Nashville Community Chest be asked to lend financial assist ance to the work and includes the commission in its 193Q budget. Seven recommendations were made bv J. D. Burton, Oakdale,; Tenn., State Secretary, in his, report. These recommendations are: (1) That more definite re sponsibility be assumed by indi vidual members of the move ment in Tennessee. (2) That the secretary be; aided in securing more adequate financial support for the work: in the State. (3) That a directory of local; and State Committees be com-! oiled, printed and made availa-j ble for individual memfbers and; the public. (4) That members who are; able to make addresses on the ilan of co-operation, co-operate! with individuals and committees in arranging meetings to pre sent the program. (5) That in the appointment of special committees, one or more women, white or colored, or both, be included in the as signments-. (6) That contact members of fhe State committee be selected fo -work with the denomination al groups. (7) That-district meetings be "ontinued for the year as a part of the program for the State committee. Belief that the danger of lynchings now is. practically passed was expressed by Dr. W. T. Hale president of A. and L State College, who credited the newspapers with playing an im portant part in helping to dissi pate prejudices. He declared that, the facts of the cases are presented Impartially |by the newspaper and this tends to end’shap judgments during the newt r prejudice.- .: »e i\«groedueator said that condition oi members oi tace is getting oetter in the lyahhr that the JNegro's t is now being taken on a With that of tne wmte man lu^cdhxts. He saw need of., i© show tne JNegro how to. eat tun ease intelligently d.i» court. • ^„ .1. - L, Segter- facilities for the edh «a of Kegro boys and girls more institutions are need f. M. Robinson, State weir idjrector, declared. He said [the idea “a delinquent s swinging to the point where t will insist upon fair play be ng done irrespective of race or color. “This progress was made vith severely limited means, contributed in the main by a relatively small number of col ored people. If the Negro really wants freedom he can more nearly achieve it by contribut ing during 1930 more gener ously and more generally to supply the fund for extending this fight in his behalf-” NEGRO HISTORY WEEK During the. celebration of Negro History Week, begin ning February 9, the Associa tion for the Study of Negro Life and History will hold in Washington, D. C., a mammoth meeting to do honor to the liv ;ng ex-members of Congress of our own group and to the pres ent representative who is now a member of that national body —H. P, Cheatham, of North Carolina; Thomas E. Miller, of South Carolina; John R. Lynch, of Mississippi, and Oscar De Priest, of Illinois. The celebration will take the form of a banquet on the 10th for 400 persons of distinction invited from various parts of the country and a large mass meeting following immediately thereupon at the Auditorium, the largest and most popular assembly hall in this part of ft# country with a seating ca pacity of 6,000. At tUb meeting all other Negroes of distraction plected to office in various sports of the country will be presented to the public. - .. „ * Each ex-member of Congress and the present incumbent will deliver addresses and an out standing statesman of er race will also be Por a discourse in the occasion. The * hoping to have the Presfctibt or the Vice-President of the United States present. If M Iher one wiH be available, a ilstinguished Senator wifi be asked to function in this capac ity. The purpose of the celebra tion, like that of the whole ef fort of Negro History Weft, is o dramatize as an important achievement the fact that we have had Negroes elected to high office and as members of Congress and that we are un jsually fortunate in haffiag an other to re-appear in that tody after a long period of social re pression and political intrigue. This is the inspiring note to timulate our despondent youth fo greater deeds. The effort is national. It is notiCrestricted to Washingtlg. The committee in charge is oom nosed of men and women from all parts of the country. Per sons from afar have expressed their intention to partirifitfe and a nation-wide interest is increasing from day to day. The affair, too, is democratic. Every one intelligently interr eeted in the Ncflro may freely participate. The co-operation of all persons is earnestly; miki* -W-. , By William Pkkcas (The Associated Negro Ptwo) This morning I picked up ;ome curtain hooks and other ueces of Pullman car furmah ngs lying on the floor near my berth, and said: “Porter, these things seem to belong to sonto hing somewhere." ’ t “Yes,” replied the porter, ih confidential undertones, “that's the result of some of that cibl 'ege intelligence that was in here last night!" It is certainly a keen situa tion when a Pullman porter has actual, sincere and sober con tempt for American white col 'ege youth,—and a contempt as iustifiable as it is genuine. There was no make-believe or iffectation in this porter's con tempt; it was unf/eigned and complete. When I read in some maga zine of Europe or America an xposure of the faulty educa tion of American college youth, r am less moved than I was by Lhe sincere disgust of this por ter. European educators are telling us all along that our lux ury universities, with a maxi mum of easy chairs, cushions, “drinks a”d things," are 1nr-—' stilling into our stvidents chiefly jazz society, bpxlhg ring manners, ^ parked auto mobile morals. Beal education —literature, science and philos ophy—cut the smallest figure in some of these schools now.. This is no exaggeration: about half the army of American stu dents would go on strike and leave our universities tumwv •ow if everything was taken out of the “college life" except7 the really educating and elevttthig activities. But let us take a look at the crowd that impressed this Pull nan porter; some of them got on at South Bend, Ind., rep resenting Notre Dame. About half of them were actually try ing to “beat their way" east in (Continued on page 4)