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About Portland inquirer. (Portland, Or.) 1944-194? | View Entire Issue (Nov. 23, 1945)
Friday. November 23. 1943 PORTLAND INQUIRER LABOR VIEW NIGHTLIFE IN NEW YORK By George F. McCray for ANP UL GREEN AND HER ORCHESTRA MAKES BOW ON SOUTHERN TOUR NEGRO WORKERS WANT NEW TIEUP By Alvin Mo*«* V ery slowly N egro w orkers are com ing out of th a t sense of secu rity v h ich they have felt as th e resu lt of the charm ing personality of Msr. Roosevelt an d of th e sm art politics and statesm anship of the late P resid en t h im self. S everal ugly realities stare N egro W ork ers in the face. C om letely gone is th e soothing th o u g h t of th e "great m an in the W hite H ouse.” A big factor in N egro uneasiness is the T rum an fam ily. T he p ictu re of Mr. T rum an w atching N egroes dig ditches on the W hite House law n m ight have been idle curiosity at seeing o th er people w ork, b u t it m ight have indicated an in te re st in the problem s of all labor. B ut th ere can be no m istake over th e m eaning of Mrs. T ru m an ’s for th e labor of H azel Scott. She is in sym pathy w ith dis crim ination. Mrs. Roosevelt had set a high stan ard of conduct for presidential wives, and Mrs. T rum an failed to m easure up. B ut w h at really w orries N egroes is Mr. T ru m an’s inability to get an y th in g done w ith congress and his adm inistrators. N ow here in his, ad m in istratio n does he seem to have en thusiastic and loyal support. P erh ap s labor and N egroes long accustom ed to running to the W hite House now need to realize th a t the pow er is now in congress. A nyw ay Mr. T rum an falls sh o rt of the wise, able, soft-hearted "Mr. B ig” in the W hite H ouse w ho som ehow sends hom e th e bacon at the rig h t tim e. As for Mr. T ru m an ’s radio speeches, well, honest and sincere as they "DAW N PA TRO L NOTEBOOK- NEW YORK, (ANP)—Come rtext Thursday, exactly 12 months will have passed since I brought to your attention a condition existing in the section of Broadway and 52nd street, called by me the “street of dreams” . . . I named it so because it provided top salaries and classy notices in the powerful white press for ranking colored performers and entertainers like: Art Tatum, Billie Holiday, Maurice Rocco, Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins, et al . . . Our pre diction, if you recall, stemmed from the assembling of white and colored thrill-seekers and exhibitionists at the Onyx club, Club Downbeat, and the Three Deuces. As we write these lines, my “dream street” might rightly be called, “padlock lane” for law enforcement of ficials have clamped down upon them causing highly paid entertainers to be temporarily out of work . . . On all sides reports just don’t add up to make sense. One faction will tell you that there is absolutely no truth in the statement that these places were closed because of interracial mixing on dance floor and at tables . . . Others who should know the truth of it all say that the “close down” order came for no other reason under the sun. My investigation conducted on a strict reporter’s basis leads me to theopinion that had not those “half-men and mannish women” been encouraged to flock nitely to these sin dens plying their nefarious thrade, the spots would not be under police department surveillance and—that’s that. CREDIT AND DEBIT SIDE We were amazed to look around in Elks Rendezvous one nite last week and note a couple (black and tan) who have created a rumpus in at least five of our better night spots to <ny personal knowledge . . . Bistro owners, plain saloon-keepers, tavern, nightclub, and “shoppe” owners, listen to me while I proach this sermon this morning— Keep your house clean under new Police Commissioner Wallender and Mayor-elect O’Dwyer or—I predict we will return to the cop in the corner of certain places which characterized the last ten days of JEFF BLUNT, acclaimed king of colored night club operators following death of BARON WILKINS—think about this fellow Americans of color.” DICKIE WELLS and “HORSE” STEELE, chatting with me for hours on a street corner 2 a. m. in the yawning . . . Wells telling me how he introduced columnists Walter Winchell and Louie Sobol to Harlem nitelife many moons ago; intimate highlights on his personal friend Tallulah Bankhead, etc., etc. . . . Steele telling me about a chat he had the other evening with writer ROI OTTLEY, and commenting on his AMSTERDAM NEWS column of a decade ago called “The Coal Bin”, et al, et al . . . It was great fun, and provided me with rich material for future talks between . . . YOU, and ME . . . So long for now folks. M A U N T Í T E L IA ^ r I SR€ KNOW S ÏVERYTHINû/ I ALU R i o m s RESERVED R.E flTZ-GIBBON The Delphian Oracle held forth in Greece and was the most famous of the ancient world. Revelations were dished up by a priestess who— seated on a gulden grum ble-seat, over a chasm from which issued poisonous and smelly vapors—m uttered as if drunk with sleep. But modern oracles work different. The m ost fam ous is none other than A unt Stella herself—the unseen priestess now exercising such a benign influence over the m em bers of this com m unity. And this Gifted L ittle Lady does not operate out of Delphi while the fum es, if any, that unlock the m ysterious recesses of her all-know ing mind, issue not from some m ephitic chasm . On the c ontrary, they m ight come from bottles bearing revenue stam ps. But who a re we to criticise? After^ all, A m erica's Favorite Advisor does lot stu tte r. And one needs no p riest ly in te rp re te r to reveal a hidden m eaning in her speech! Our readers are invited to bare th eir secret souls to her. H er answ ers—invariably pat, p ertinent and pithy. But send no box tops. E ditor. Dear Aunt Stella: The Colonel’s rich widow is a man-handler and I love it, but w hat’ll I say when she discovers th at I wear a toupe? Small But Ambitious. Small But Ambitious: Explain that you’re an under-cover man. Aunt (Secret Service) Stella. * * * Dear Aunt Stella: My boy friend’s awfully good-looking but the heck of it is that he knows it. Do you think th at time will tone down this handicap? No Man’s Slavey. No Man’s Slavey: I wouldn’t worry too much about the male animal with too much Vitamin I in his system: if tirrie doesn’t tone him down, his contacts will. Aunt (Dust To Dust) Stella. * • • Dear Aunt Stella: I’d like to m arry and settle down but the eligibles I’ve met all are assertive, selfish or thoughtless. At what age do men begin to get good? Home-maker. Home-maker: Men don’t get good—they ju st get old. Aunt (Live & Learn) Stella. * • * Dear Aunt Stella: It is said th at man seems to be the only creature that does not co-operate with his kind. Do wild animals ever work together? Library Lout. Library Lout: Certainly! Take the wolf and the stork, for in stance; don't they usually work in Ihe same neighborhood? Aunt (Un derprivileged) Stella. • * • Dear /»unt Stella: My wife is so extravagant that she’s driving me to bankruptcy. What can I do to keep my head above w ater? Harassed. Harassed: Why not take up deep sea diving? Then you don’t have to keep your head above water! Aunt (Turntable) Stella. • • • Dear Aunt Stella: Where is the capital of the USA? Teacher’s Pet. Teacher's Pet: Loaned to Eng land, Russia, China, et al. Aunt (Long Time No See) Stella. « • • Dear Aunt Stella: Your idioms are awful! What's the meaning of “from nuts to soup?” Lord Helpus. Lord Helpus: Getting the wom en out of war plants and into kitchens. Aunt (Reconversion) Stella. * • * Dear Aunt Stella: I’m very anxious to make my debut in society but Mother counsels post ponement and insists th at patience has its own reward. Ju st what can she mean by th a t? Almost Mature. Almost M ature: Perhaps she knows of a girl who waited sev eral years for a man and then found one with a lot more money. Aunt (B argainer) Stella. • * * Dear Aunt Stella: My teen-aged son, in love for the first time, has been given the air and now th reat ens to kill himself. What on earth shall I do? Distracted Mother. Distracted Mother: Speed his departure. Lovesickness is but a temporary m a l a d y ; marriage makes it malignant. Aunt (Spare The Child) Stella. • • ♦ Dear Aunt Stella: How can 1 discover who the dame is th at my husband is going with while 1 stick a t home and take care of the kids ? All I know about her is th a t she’s bow-legged and skinny —but wait till I get my hands on her! Cyclone Annie. Cyclone Annie: I’m sure that you must be mistaken: I ’m not bow-legged and my shape is as ood as yours! Aunt (Include Me u t) Stella. S * * * Dear Aunt Stella: The keeper told me to dig a hole then had me put the dirt back in — but th ere’s too much dirt. Now what’ll I do? Not Nuts. Not N uts: Dig the hole deeper. Aunt (Me, Too!) Stella. * • * Dear Aunt Stella: I make a liv ing writing murder mysteries and have run out of soap. Can you suggest a new plot situation? Brain’s Numb. Brain's Numb: Why not sta rt off with the victim and the vil lain in a graveyard at midnight? When she resists him in the mausoleum, he knocks her for a ghoul. Aunt (Dead End) Stella. No, Freckles, the best time for picking apples is not on Sunday when the adults are all in church. \ \ ^ " Y)v *>° -•«I4 o° IPS Photo Exclusive to T ed Yates Publications L IL GREEN, the blues queen, one of the top ranking Bluebird and Decca recording a rtis ts who on her Initial appearance In New York played the popularly frequented Blue Angel nitery. She w as held over for six w eeks and since th a t tim e has been a sensational singing sta r. The sta r debuts with H er 15 K hythm as te rs—playing key southern cities com m encing Octo ber 26—going on location at the celebrated W illie Davis "hot" spot in Miami, Florida, for ten days enroute. A fter playing the Deep S outh Lil will lead her m usical m en through the Southw est playing Texas, and O klahom a on a one-nlghtei jau n t th a t should prove highly en tertain in g to m usic and dance lovers. Itinerary calls for d ates In Asheville. N. C.; Macon, Ga.; A tlanta. Ga.; Columbus, Ga.; Columbia, S. C .; Birm ingham , Ala.; Panam a City, Fla.; Mobile. Ala.; Pensacola, Fla.; Jackson, Miss.; and Monroe. I-ouislana. O ther da te s call for appearances In Shreveport, Pa.; Baton Rouge, La.; Biloxi, Miss.; and A lexandria, Louisiana. BETWEEN THE LINES DEGREEISM DECLINES In today’s mail came the Fall catalog of the Columbia University Press. Coming as it did from Columbia Uni versity, not only one of the top-flight universities but one of the world’s largest, it was of considerable size. One of the most striking features of the publication was the absence of degrees after the authors’ name. . For a long time in this country we have laid special emphasis on an author’s degree, which in many instances overawed us into believing that the author could speak no wrong. It came about that for quite two generations, we have been under a degree spell that so bound us as to make us seek after a man’s degrees rather than seek after his character. The man with a degree has hitherto been the man of the hour. In spite of the fact that this nation’s foundations were laid by men who were long on vision and character and short on degrees, we have virtually sold ourselves into a kind of degree slavery. A kind of degreeism has bound us in mighty thrall from which we are crying for deliverance. It is not a fact that our men of degrees are invariably our principal men. There are too many degreed failures and too many un degreed success for a lack of degrees to ever mean certain failure or the possession of a degree to ever mean certain success. Today as always character is the determining fac tor in life and character is in no way correlated with de grees. The present generation of world administrators has the benefits of the men of degrees as was never true before of world administrators; but it cannot be said that the world affairs are better administered. The white race dominates the 20th century world and degrees abound among them. But the claim to superb moral leadership of the world cannot be claimed by a race that twice within a quarter of a century has deluged the world in blood in two of the most terrible wars of history. These wars were not brought on because the leaders were white, but because they were human; but this fact in no way vitiates the conclusion that degreeism does not contain the germs of infallibility. This release is by no means an attempt to disparge degrees; but it is designed to warn against degreeism, a belief in the omnipotence of degrees detached from whole some character. Character is the thing that puts degreed men over and not the degrees. Why then do we not stress character with some of the enthusiasm with which we subscribe to degreeism? Nor is this article designed to disparge education and learning. What we are trying to get across is the fact that education will get greatest chance in this country in propor tion as degreeism declines. When we arrive at the point where he will not feel certain of success because he has at tained unto one, then the deck will have been cleared for an era of real intellectual achievement. It is mor than passing thrange that at the very height of degreeism among Negroes, the dominant whites are breaking away from its bondage. When degreeism has sufficiently declined, poor parents will no longer enslave themselves to get their worthless sons and daughters de greed to do nothing but become degreed failures. When de- greeism’s spell has been broken in this country we will not longer measure a man’s stature by his degree but by his contribution to the public weal. When degreeism is subordinated to its proper place, then a man will not feel that he is a failure when he rears a robust honest brood of fine American citizens of undegreed usefulness. It has come about that the man who brings up one degreed child is proclaimed a “howling success”; but when his neighbor brings up 10 honest but undegreed citizens who work with their hands for an honest living he is regarded as a failure. This very notion is one of the most damnable things in the social life of our times. It is degreeism reduced to its last analysis. Degreeism hides the righteous ruggedness so beautifully portrayed in the Village Blacksmith of yesteryear: His hair is crisp and black and long His face is like the tan; His brow is wet with honest sweat He earns whatever he can, And looks the whole world in the face For he owes "hot any man.” I*Iay the passion for knowledge never assuage; but may degreeism rapidly decline! are, he really should lay off. N ot th a t th e P resident doesn’t have qualities of a » . . t As Negro w orkers discover th e y can no longer look to W ashington w ith an y hope of effective action, they a re com ing face to face w ith tw o old enemies. T hey see em ployers and big daily papers com plain co nstantly about the tens of thousands of job openings an d th e refusal of w orkers to accept “decent jo b s a t reasonabl w ages.” Negroes know th a t the real story behind these so called job openings is not only low wages, b u t the stubborn, p re ju diced refusal of m any em ployers to h ire N e groes or to increase th eir present n u m b er of Negro em ployes. T he lily-w hite independent and A FL u n ions are again openly opposing job e q u ality for N egroes. T he A FL 's In tern atio n al A ssocia tion of M achinists and various A FL build in g trades unions are e ith e r b arring N egroes o u t right or is telling th em to w ait u n til all th e “m em bers” are p u t to w ork. In m any of these unions N egroes rarely becom e a n y th in g m u t tem porary “p e rm it” m em bers, though h ere and th ere n o table eceptions can be found. All of this adds up to th e fact th a t th e Negro w orkers are m uch m ore uneasy about the fu tu re th a n o th er A m erican citizens. N egro reaction to th e ir p resent situ atio n v a ry from n ear panic to cool, d eterm in ed anger. S trikes in w hich they share th e lead e rsh ip as in th e case of the K elsey H ayes strik e in D etroit are p articu larly b itter. W hat th e ir new affiliations w ill be now th a t th e R oosevelt’s are no longer a p a rt of things in W ashington rem ain to be seen. Registration Up InSiate of Georgia THE VETERANS LIGHTHOUSE ATLANTA— (A NP) — S purred j by rep o rts of unprecedented reg istration of N egroes in v irtu ally lish the rig h t of q ualified N egroes every G eorgia com m unity, t h e G eorgia A ssociation of C itizens D em ocratic c l u b s re-enforced CHICAGO— (ANP)—The local th e ir efforts last w eek to estab- public school system here has to vote in all elections th ro u g h launched a fight against racism out th e state. by the introduction of a 44-page R egistration by N egroes in guidebook, en titled “G oing Aloflg G eorgia counties show s as high T ogether—L iteratu re P oints t h e as 750% increase, th e gains being W ay,” to teachers. attrib u te d in p a rt to th e in v ali F irst copies of the book w ere dation of the D em ocratic w hite issued to teachers and principals p rim ary by M iddle G eorgia F ed of 39 elem entary schools last eral D istrict Ju d g e T. H oyt Davis. w eek during a literatu re confer G athered a t Macon for th e ir ence, presided over by Miss N el sem i-annual session, G eorgia A s lie R yan, a t Moose E lem entary sociation of citizens D em ocratic school. The teaching of to le r clb m em bers listened to a com ance should begin in k in d erg ar prehensive rep o rt on th e progress ten, Miss R yan believes. of court action over th e p ast year “C hildren do not have p re ju and h eard an outlining of new dices,” she said. "Prejudices are plans for continuing objectives p lanted by adults, and it is the and a re p o rt on th e financial responsibility of th e schools to strength of the organization to lead in creating a new w orld.” date. The book aim s to instill in the C. R. A lexander, p resid en t of pupil a ttitu d es of respect, tru st, the Savannah D em ocrats, re p o rt and u nderstanding tow ard all ra ed reg istratio n of n early 2,000 a d cial and religious groups; to ac ditional N egroes since Ju ly , 1944. q u ain t him through lite ra tu re H. D. H eath, of Fitzgerald, re w ith th e contributions m ade by ported m ore th a n 200 registered various groups; to lead him to N egroes as com pared to only 12 w ard closer cooperation w i t h in 1944. these groups, and to develop in J. M. A rkinson rep o rted th a t him pride in his own heritage. w here there w ere only 175 N e The recen t anti-N egro school groes reg istered in B runsw ick in strikes caused Miss H elen P. Bull, 1944, th ere are today over 800 president of the YWCA, to w rite registered. M ayor E dw ard J. K elly a letter, The N egro D em ocrats endorsed urging com plete reorganization of objectives calling for infiltration the school board to “establish of th eir organization in to every dem ocratic practices and highest com m unity of the state and m ade educational stan d ard s.” plans for an anual F ra n k lin D. R oosevelt dinner, the first of “HAVE YOU DONATED TO w hich w ill tak e place in A tlanta THE UNITED NEGRO COLLEGE on the late P resid en t’s b irthday, Jan u a ry 30. FU ND ?” School System Against Racism N ote to v eteran s seeking em ploym ent w ith V eteran s a d m in istratio n : G et y o u r civil serv ice ra tin g im m deiately. A ll e x a m inations m ust be reopened to v e t erans. (A dditional note: B ran ch offices are located in th e follow ing cities: Boston, N ew Y ork, P hiladelphia, R ichm ond, A tlan ta, C incinnati, Chicago, M inneapol is, St. Louis, D allas, S eattle, S an Francisco and D enver. E ach b ran ch office has its reg io n al and sub-regional offices.) F o r fu rth e r inform ation consult y o u r C ontact R epresentative in y o u r • * • n e arest V eterans ad m in istratio n In a recent address, Gen. B rad office, or your n e arest civil serv ley clearly pointed out th e im ice facility. * * * portance of com m unity effort in T he V eterans of F oreign W ars veteran s rehabilitation. C ertain ly no one w ill qu arrel w ith this organiation is asking congress to statem ent. As this colum n has do som etihng a b o u t th e social se rep eatedly stated, in th e final cu rity benefits lost to v eteran s analysis any satisfactory tra n si w hile in service. T his is a tim ely tion from m ilitary life to civilian- intercession in our behalf, and ship w ill becom e th e com bined one upon w hich congress seem s responsibility of the fam ily and disposed to ta k e favorable ac th e neighbors of the discharged. tion. • * * The obvious logic of th is s ta te S till only a trick le of su rp us m ent should be too ap p aren t to pro p erties g ettin g into v ete ra n s’ m erit fu rth e r com m ent. • * • hands. T he rum blings of p ro V eterans housing has becom e tests a re grow ing louder by the a n ational problem w hich is de- m inute. • • • man(jjn g im m ediate atten tio n , T he m an n er in w hich v eteran s and w hich w ill not aw ait m uch m ore delay in providing a solu a re tak in g ad v an ta g e of the ed u tion. To allow this u rg en t m a tte r cational fe a tu re s of th e G I B ill to d rift along w ill be b u t to in of R ights is h ig h ly encouraging. vite a national scandal. V eterans A nd w h at is even m ore g ratify in g organiations, and groups in te r is th e success w ith w hich these ested in veterans w elfare, are v eteran s a re handling th e ir e d u “tu rn in g on the h e a t” to such a cational assignm ents. • • » degree th a t congress w ill soon be G et in on th e victo ry loan drive. forced to take rem edial m easures for correction of this problem in T hese bonds w ill s e r v e as a b ehalf of veterans. Look for m ig h ty fine shock ab so rb er d u r those m easures to evidence th e m ing th e financial re a d ju stm e n t p e riod w hich is ce rta in to come. selves soon. VETS CONFAB LIVELY The N AA CP V eterans conven tion, held last w eek in W ash ington, w as a p re tty lively affair. Perhaps, aside from the objective, v a l u a b l e inform ation gleaned from the sessions, th e m ost sig nificant featu re of th e conclave w as th e b lu n t m an n er in w hich vets stated th e ir gripes, and the equally fo rth rig h t w ay in w hich they called for adju stm en ts. A l together, w hen considered in the light of accom plishm ents, th e conclave w as w ell w orth the e f fort. A New Rate fo r the A LL-ELEC T R IC Home 4t Now PGE makes it easier than ever before to go “all-electric.” PGE customers using electricity for cooking and water heating will get this new rate upon application. Others can apply as soon as they install both an electric range and water heater. The new rate provides 300 kilowatt hours of electricity for a minimum charge o f only $4.50 and another 700 for 6 mills per kllowalt-hour. Excess kilowatt hours beyond 1,000 per month cost 8j mills. HOW IT B E N E F I T S w im b YOU A custom er with an electric range 1 now w ill pay only 95c a m onth for average w ater heating use. O A custom er w ith an electric w ater * * heater may actually save money by installing an electric range. O A custom er w ho is an average ^ "all-electric” user now can save about $1.39 a m onth. A A custom er with n eith er electric ^ co o k in g n o r w ater heatin g will pay only $2.94 ad d itional for average use o f both. Examples given here apply to homes a n d farm s now billed under our Schedule 8, which applies to most PG E territory. * I f y o u q u a lif y , be s u ra to a p p ly fo r fh o n o w " A ll- U o c t r lc " ro to PORTLAND GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY TRAVERS and RLAGG CLIPPER SERVICE STATION General Overhauling by Expert Mechanic We Specialize in . . . BRAKE SERVICE . . . WASHING . . . POLISHING LUBRICATION . . . WAXING WE N E V E R >1 Do you know what’s missing from this picture? If you’re w aiting for a telephone, what isn’t in this picture may be far more important than what you see. For although we are now getting and in stalling thousands of new telephone instru ments, even more orders for service are being held up (and this may be the case with you) by a shortage of other facilities that take longer to build. In many places, for example, we will have to build complicated new switchboards before we can provide telephone service . . . in others, we will even have to put up new buildings to house those switchboards. But we arc working full speed ahead, and no matter what the conditions are that are holding up your telephone, you can be certain we are doing everything we can to get to your name on the waiting list just as swiftly as possible. THE PACIFIC TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH CO. CLOSE — 24 HOUR SERVICE - For Service Calls Phone TRinity 1446 Now Open Under New Management 2707 N. VANCOUVER AVE. o They finished their |e b ...le t’s finish ours. IUY VICTORY RONDS! 730 S. W. O ak Street, Portland . . . ATwater 6261