Memphis World
Memphis World Publishing Co.
1950-02-24
Lewis O. Swingler

MEMPHIS WORLD
The South's Oldest and Leading Colored Semi-Weekly Newspaper
Published by MEMPHIS WORLD PUBLISHING CO.
Every TUESDAY and FRIDAY at 164 BEALE—Phone 8-4030
Entered in the Post Office at Memphis, Tenn., as second-class mail
under the Act of Congress, March 1, 1879
Member of SCOTT NEWSPAPER SYNDICATE
W. A. Scott, II. Founder, C. A. Scott, General Manager
LEWIS O. SWINGLER Editor
A. G. SHIELDS, Jr. Advertising Manager
The MEMPHIS WORLD is an independent newspaper—non
sectarian and non-partisan printing news unbiasedly and supporting
those things it believes to the interest of its readers and opposing
those things against the interest of its readers.
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
Year $5.00—6 Months $3.00—3 Months $1.50 (In Advance)

No Vote Frauds, Please
The Federal Government has promised to brook no
interference with the rights of individuals to east a free
and unrestricted ballot. That assurance was sounded by
none other than Attorney General Howard McGrath, who
in his address before the annual conference of United
States Attorneys, said:
"We hold one of the most sacred individual rights to
be the right to vote according to one's convictions — and
a corresponding right in the fair and honest counting of
these votes." Over such matters, he told the attorneys,
the government's jurisdiction is limited. "But I count
upon the United States Attorneys this year to do everything 
in their power to guarantee to the public that we
will use all the force of the Government wherever necessary 
to guarantee that sacred right."
That's good news for southern Negroes! It's even
better news for Negro voters in Georgia, since in no other
southern state have Negroes encountered so many artificial
devices to block their paths and to prevent them from voting. 
As bad and as false as is the bloc voting charges
and intimidations are, they are nothing to be compared to
the frauds and purges inflicted upon the Negro voter in
an effort to minimize his vote or to nullify it altogether.
Let's have more of that sort of resolve. Already, the
cloud of hate and the campaign of fraud and purge are
beginning to take shape. But Negroes can stop this
promptly if they will institute suits against those who
challenge them without cause.

Conduct And Public Opinion
It is not too pleasant to say, "I
told you so," yet it is necessary to
do so at times. On February 1, I
wrote for the Memphis World: "I
transferred from the Elmwood-Desoto 
bus to the west bound JacksonLamar 
Bus at Vance and Orleans.
The bus was crowded. I milled my
way through to standing passengers
to the rear, and immediately found
a seat! That has happened many
times. We should know the feelings
of the dominant group about that."
On February 2, I saw in the Memphis 
Press-Semmitar concerning the
proposed Chelsea Gardens. Negro
housing development, the following;
"Mr. Worthington said he was objecting 
because of the large number
of Negroes who would ride the
Jackson bus line, which serves his
community. He said, "The Jackson
line is one of the only lines left
where a white man can ride without
being crowded by a Negro."
Whether Mr. Worthington is justified 
or not is beside the point.
What is important here is the artitude 
and that is, I believe, the result 
of the usual stereotypes of us.
I repeat that, "In general the only
fundamental and effective way to
change a man's action, or his will
to action, is to change the pictures
in his head." This is, to my mind
at least, a good generalization, and
will be referred to again before we
close.
In the same article I read also,
"Mrs. Vic Erdelyan said she was
not one to argue on racial denomination 
or racial segregation. We enjoy
our freedom and separation and
there are many of the Negro race
who feel that they are happier and
better off to themselves," she said,
It's mighty nice to be able to walk
down our streets and not meet a
Negro." Such is her attitude, and
such is the attitude of many other
white people. As a matter of record
Gov. Browning spoke in a similar
vein to her first two statements in
his campaign for the Governship of
Tennessee. Again whether or not,
they are justified is, from a practical 
point of view, inconsequential,
but the fact that they have such an
attitude is of tremendous importance. 

Please try hard to understand this
discussion; for it is very delicate and
confusing. I am not upholding these
people in their attitude toward us.
Far be it from me to begin to attempt 
such a thus yet I feel that
I should try to understand the situation. 
My point is that, right or

wrong a man's thought on a matter 
determines his action or his will
to action on that consideration.
To say that these people are just
prejudiced is an over simplification
of a very complicated situation. They
may be prejudiced, but they are not
always aware of it. Their attitudes
are so deep rooted in them that
they think that they are right and
just. That is, indeed, hard for us to
understand. However, we must realize 
that farsighted and nearsighted
people cannot see all objects clearly
at normal distances until their visions 
are corrected. Similarly, people 
troubled with astigmatism may
mistake an 'R' for a 'P', or an 'E'
for an 'E'; until their visions are
corrected. As we have such difficultties 
with our physical visions, so
we have corresponding troubles with
our mental visions. Until we correct
our visions we may quite honestly
see things differently from what
they are.
Let us make a very simple study
here. Suppose that a white man,
walking to work, as I often do, sees
some public brawling between colored 
men and women on Fridays and
Saturdays. Try to put yourself in
his place, and keep your mind on
his stereotypes of us. Would you
then be eager to have such people
for your neighbors? Suppose that
while you were waiting for your bus
on Friday nights at Vance and
heard and saw a colored woman
cursing, most abusively, one of the
men of the eternal triangle, at the
top of her voice. White people certainly 
see such things and invariably 
look right at me. With shame
I look another way.
Would you then want such people 
in your neighborhood? Again let
us assume that you are riding a
bus home and that several colored
people, including a woman, stagger
drunkenly to their seats. Suppose
that you see a colored man publicly
strike down a woman at a railroad
station on a Friday night. Also, suppose 
that you are waiting for a bus
at Main and Calhoun on a Saturday
night, and you see a colored ambulance 
fly by with a brutally injured
colored man or woman in it. Suppose 
that you see an officer locking
a group of colored men and women
into a patrol wagon on a Saturday
night, and suppose that you hear
one officer say to another, "Oh, well
this is Saturday night."
With this man's stereotypes in
mind would you want such people in
your community? Please be fair and
honest. It should now seem plausible

that something else besides pure race
prejudice is behind his desire to keep
us out of his neighborhood.
In this study we must keep in
mind the fact that this man, rarely
if ever, comes in contact with a Mr.
Kirk, or a Dr. Walker, or a Dr. Price,
or a Professor Hunt. These kind do
not fit his stereotype and they do
not do the things that they claim
to this man's attention. We must
be continually aware of the fact
that the undisciplined ones of our
group are the ones which attract
his attention, and they are the ones
that perpetuate the stereotype.
These mentioned acts of bad conduct, 
and over twice as many again
have been seen by me in many
neighborhoods of Memphis. As a rule
white people have also witnessed
these same things. My co-worker
from New Orleans, who was with
me that Saturday night at Main
and Calhoun, said that such is the
situation in New Orleans and in
most other southern cities. It is
certainly true of Atlanta, for Walter 
White writes, of "the usual Saturday 
night cuttings and shootings"
there in his book, A MAN CALLED
WHITE. And another thing that is
important is the fact that these
sorid acts of conduct are often committed 
before the public. Unless this
man under consderation is extremely 
careful, he will be a man with incorrect 
mental vision, and he will
honestly, as far as he is concerned,
see us differently from what the
group is actually like as a whole.
Let us be fair and generous. It is
obvious that such a man will have
distorted and unflattering pictures
of us in his head, and consequently 
unfavorable attitudes toward us.
Let us now go back and review
our principle. In general, the only
fundamental and objective way to
change a man's action, or will of
action, is to change the pictures in
his mind. The housing projects such
as the Foote Homes, the LeMoyne
Gardens, the Dixie Homes, etc. are
helping to change the picture. Many
more are needed. Greater economic
opportunities will help. Education
will help. More interracial co-operation 
will help. These as well as
other things will help, but the
thing which will help most is widely
dispersed good conduct resulting
from good moral and religious training. 
That is a long process for sure,
but it is, I am convinced, an indispensable 
one for favorable public
opinion. Keep this in mind: It is
hard to expect respect from another
when your own actions indicate that
you do not respect yourself.

UN Group Sees Polygamy
Type Of Social Security
With all the hue and cry for the
banning of polygamy among African 
peoples, a four-man UN trusteeship 
council commission decided
here last week that the practice of
plural marriages is a "type of social
security" for African women According 
to the commission, which recently 
returned from a 17-day investigation 
in the British Cameroons 
the practice of having more
than one wife is a thing which has
worked out to an exact science.
For example, a male African may
have five wives. The first wife is
the boss of the household. One wife
may be in charge of the kitchen,
two assigned to work in the fields,
another in charge of marketing,
and so on.
In its report, the group said,
"Plural marriage is partly a means
of sustenance to the women involved 
. . . Polygamy will have to
continue until western civilization,
through education, convinces the
Africans that other ways are better 
and preferable."

Many Federal
Violations Seen
Among Puerto Ricans
S. Department of Labor reported
recently that many violations of
federal laws have been discovered
in New York among firms employing 
Puerto Rican immigrants.
Manuel Cabranes, New York director 
of the Employment and Migration 
Bureau of the Puerto Rico
Department of Labor, informed of
the findings, reminded Puerto Ricans 
in the city to insist on their
rights.
The report by the Labor Department 
said that one firm employing
only Puerto Ricans, recently was
found to be violating legislation
governing minimum wages, overtime 
homeworkers, wage records,
and child labor.
In one instance, a woman complained 
to the department that her
husband, employed by a sportswear
concern for seven months, was
bringing home a weekly wage of
$11.83 for a 43-hour week.

Clark College
Grad In Japan
On Assignment
Miss Aquilla
Borders Smith, daughter of Mrs.
Lillie Butter, of 1152 Spruce St.,
Tampa, Fla., recently arrived in
Japan aboard the USAT General
Special Services.
As recreational director, assigned
Shanks to serve with Eighth Army
to one of the Army Service Clubs
under the jurisdiction of the 25th
Infantry Regiment, Miss Smith will
be responsible for planning and
executing a well-rounded recreation 
program for servicemen in the
area.
Since graduation from college last
spring, Miss Smith had been a
substitute teacher with the Hillsborough 
Board of Education. Tampa, 
Fla., prior to coming overseas.
During several summers, while attending 
college, she worked with
the Tampa Recreation Department,
as special activities director.
Cuts in Labor's 1945 Vote in Britain 
predicted for '50 election.
Soviet press sees "liberation" of
Tibet not for off.

Laborer Deprived Of Fair Trial,
Supreme Court Brief Contends
All the constitutional safeguards 
to a fair and impartial trial
were thrown overboard in the case
of an ignorant colored laborer convicted 
of first-degree murder in
Calhoun County, Alabama, according 
to a petition filed in the United
States Supreme Court last Monday.
Lonnie James Ball, who is under
sentence of death, asked the Supreme 
Court to review his conviction
on the ground that he was denied all
procedural safeguards which were
his right and against the loss of
which the trial court had the duty
to protect him.
According to the State's evidence,
Police Chief Sparks, of Oxford, Alabama, 
accompanied by another policeman, 
a Mr. Billingsley, were called 
to a combination service station
and store, where Ball had created a
disturbance. Ball was cursing and
using loud language in the presence
of white and colored persons.
The two officers arrested Ball and
placed him in the police car unarmed. 
He sprang from the car and
grabbed Billingsley, Billingsley and
Ball both fell to the ground but during 
the scuffle Billingsley's pistol
was fired five times in rapid succession. 

Sparks fell after the first shot was
fired. There was no evidence of any
ill feeling existing between Sparks
and Ball prior to the homicide.
Ball was indicted for first-degree
murder. On May 22, 1948, he was
arraigned without counsel to represent 
him. The trial judge designated
a lawyer present in the courtroom
to enter pleas in his behalf.
The petition contends that Ball's
rights and desires were "completely
ignored." It states that the lawyer
designated by the court did not introduce 
himself to Ball, did not advise 
with him, made no investigation 
whatsoever, and even advised 
the court that he did not represent 
Ball.
Failure to make an "effective appointment" 
of counsel vitiates the
conviction, it is asserted in the brief
in support of the petition for review. 

It also is pointed out in the petition 
and brief that no attack upon
the indictment was made on the
ground that colored persons were
systematically and intentionally excluded 
from the grand jury which
indicted Ball.
According to the last United States
census, Calhoun County had a population 
of about 50,200 white persons
and 12,900 colored persons. Thirty
persons were summoned to serve
on the grand jury which indicted
Ball, None of them was colored.
At the time of a hearing on a
motion for a new trial, it was disclosed 
that there were 2,500 names
in the jury box, that approximately
120 persons were summoned each
year to serve upon grand juries, and
that from 400 to 500 jurors were
summoned for petit jury service during 
the five-year period proceding
the indictment.
It also was disclosed that only one
colored person had been called for
grand jury service and only one had
been called for petit service in that
five-year period.
The trial judge, less than a week
before Ball's trial, appointed a lawyer 
to represent Ball. The petition
and brief states that this attorney
made no motion for a continuance
of the trial or a change of venue.
Attorneys not employed to represent 
Ball, and not representing him,
requested a continuance.
The trial judge denied the continuance 
because local animosity
and feeling was so hostile, inflamed,
prejudiced and biased against Ball
that the people of Calhoun County
would storm the jail were he not
tried on June 7, 1948.
This action on the part of the
trial judge, the brief contends, constitutes 
a denial of due process of
law.
Ball is represented by G. Ernest
Jones, Roderick Beddow and G.
Ernest Jones, Jr., all Birmingham
attorneys.
The Western States now have
21,120,000 acres under irrigation in
Federal and private projects and
studies by the Bureau of Reclamation 
indicate that water can be
supplied to an additional 16,840,000
new acres.

Convicted Of
First Degree
Murder In Ala.
All the constitutional safeguards 
to a fair and impartial trial
were thrown overboard in the case
of an ignorant colored laborer convicted 
of first-degree murder in
Calhoun County, Alabama, according 
to a petition filed in the United
States Supreme Court last Monday.
Lonnie James Ball, who is under
sentence of death, asked the Supreme 
Court to review his conviction
on the ground that he was denied all
procedural safeguards which were
his right and against the loss of
which the trial court had the duty
to protect him.
According to the State's evidence,
Police Chief Sparks, of Oxford, Alabama, 
accompanied by another policeman, 
a Mr. Billingsley, were called 
to a combination service station
and store, where Ball had created a
disturbance. Ball was cursing and
using loud language in the presence
of white and colored persons.
The two officers arrested Ball and
placed him in the police car unarmed. 
He sprang from the car and
grabbed Billingsley, Billingsley and
Ball both fell to the ground but during 
the scuffle Billingsley's pistol
was fired five times in rapid succession. 

Sparks fell after the first shot was
fired. There was no evidence of any
ill feeling existing between Sparks
and Ball prior to the homicide.
Ball was indicted for first-degree
murder. On May 22, 1948, he was
arraigned without counsel to represent 
him. The trial judge designated
a lawyer present in the courtroom
to enter pleas in his behalf.
The petition contends that Ball's
rights and desires were "completely
ignored." It states that the lawyer
designated by the court did not introduce 
himself to Ball, did not advise 
with him, made no investigation 
whatsoever, and even advised 
the court that he did not represent 
Ball.
Failure to make an "effective appointment" 
of counsel vitiates the
conviction, it is asserted in the brief
in support of the petition for review. 

It also is pointed out in the petition 
and brief that no attack upon
the indictment was made on the
ground that colored persons were
systematically and intentionally excluded 
from the grand jury which
indicted Ball.
According to the last United States
census, Calhoun County had a population 
of about 50,200 white persons
and 12,900 colored persons. Thirty
persons were summoned to serve
on the grand jury which indicted
Ball, None of them was colored.
At the time of a hearing on a
motion for a new trial, it was disclosed 
that there were 2,500 names
in the jury box, that approximately
120 persons were summoned each
year to serve upon grand juries, and
that from 400 to 500 jurors were
summoned for petit jury service during 
the five-year period proceding
the indictment.
It also was disclosed that only one
colored person had been called for
grand jury service and only one had
been called for petit service in that
five-year period.
The trial judge, less than a week
before Ball's trial, appointed a lawyer 
to represent Ball. The petition
and brief states that this attorney
made no motion for a continuance
of the trial or a change of venue.
Attorneys not employed to represent 
Ball, and not representing him,
requested a continuance.
The trial judge denied the continuance 
because local animosity
and feeling was so hostile, inflamed,
prejudiced and biased against Ball
that the people of Calhoun County
would storm the jail were he not
tried on June 7, 1948.
This action on the part of the
trial judge, the brief contends, constitutes 
a denial of due process of
law.
Ball is represented by G. Ernest
Jones, Roderick Beddow and G.
Ernest Jones, Jr., all Birmingham
attorneys.
The Western States now have
21,120,000 acres under irrigation in
Federal and private projects and
studies by the Bureau of Reclamation 
indicate that water can be
supplied to an additional 16,840,000
new acres.

WITHOUT COUNSEL
All the constitutional safeguards 
to a fair and impartial trial
were thrown overboard in the case
of an ignorant colored laborer convicted 
of first-degree murder in
Calhoun County, Alabama, according 
to a petition filed in the United
States Supreme Court last Monday.
Lonnie James Ball, who is under
sentence of death, asked the Supreme 
Court to review his conviction
on the ground that he was denied all
procedural safeguards which were
his right and against the loss of
which the trial court had the duty
to protect him.
According to the State's evidence,
Police Chief Sparks, of Oxford, Alabama, 
accompanied by another policeman, 
a Mr. Billingsley, were called 
to a combination service station
and store, where Ball had created a
disturbance. Ball was cursing and
using loud language in the presence
of white and colored persons.
The two officers arrested Ball and
placed him in the police car unarmed. 
He sprang from the car and
grabbed Billingsley, Billingsley and
Ball both fell to the ground but during 
the scuffle Billingsley's pistol
was fired five times in rapid succession. 

Sparks fell after the first shot was
fired. There was no evidence of any
ill feeling existing between Sparks
and Ball prior to the homicide.
Ball was indicted for first-degree
murder. On May 22, 1948, he was
arraigned without counsel to represent 
him. The trial judge designated
a lawyer present in the courtroom
to enter pleas in his behalf.
The petition contends that Ball's
rights and desires were "completely
ignored." It states that the lawyer
designated by the court did not introduce 
himself to Ball, did not advise 
with him, made no investigation 
whatsoever, and even advised 
the court that he did not represent 
Ball.
Failure to make an "effective appointment" 
of counsel vitiates the
conviction, it is asserted in the brief
in support of the petition for review. 

It also is pointed out in the petition 
and brief that no attack upon
the indictment was made on the
ground that colored persons were
systematically and intentionally excluded 
from the grand jury which
indicted Ball.
According to the last United States
census, Calhoun County had a population 
of about 50,200 white persons
and 12,900 colored persons. Thirty
persons were summoned to serve
on the grand jury which indicted
Ball, None of them was colored.
At the time of a hearing on a
motion for a new trial, it was disclosed 
that there were 2,500 names
in the jury box, that approximately
120 persons were summoned each
year to serve upon grand juries, and
that from 400 to 500 jurors were
summoned for petit jury service during 
the five-year period proceding
the indictment.
It also was disclosed that only one
colored person had been called for
grand jury service and only one had
been called for petit service in that
five-year period.
The trial judge, less than a week
before Ball's trial, appointed a lawyer 
to represent Ball. The petition
and brief states that this attorney
made no motion for a continuance
of the trial or a change of venue.
Attorneys not employed to represent 
Ball, and not representing him,
requested a continuance.
The trial judge denied the continuance 
because local animosity
and feeling was so hostile, inflamed,
prejudiced and biased against Ball
that the people of Calhoun County
would storm the jail were he not
tried on June 7, 1948.
This action on the part of the
trial judge, the brief contends, constitutes 
a denial of due process of
law.
Ball is represented by G. Ernest
Jones, Roderick Beddow and G.
Ernest Jones, Jr., all Birmingham
attorneys.
The Western States now have
21,120,000 acres under irrigation in
Federal and private projects and
studies by the Bureau of Reclamation 
indicate that water can be
supplied to an additional 16,840,000
new acres.

NO JURORS SUMMONED
All the constitutional safeguards 
to a fair and impartial trial
were thrown overboard in the case
of an ignorant colored laborer convicted 
of first-degree murder in
Calhoun County, Alabama, according 
to a petition filed in the United
States Supreme Court last Monday.
Lonnie James Ball, who is under
sentence of death, asked the Supreme 
Court to review his conviction
on the ground that he was denied all
procedural safeguards which were
his right and against the loss of
which the trial court had the duty
to protect him.
According to the State's evidence,
Police Chief Sparks, of Oxford, Alabama, 
accompanied by another policeman, 
a Mr. Billingsley, were called 
to a combination service station
and store, where Ball had created a
disturbance. Ball was cursing and
using loud language in the presence
of white and colored persons.
The two officers arrested Ball and
placed him in the police car unarmed. 
He sprang from the car and
grabbed Billingsley, Billingsley and
Ball both fell to the ground but during 
the scuffle Billingsley's pistol
was fired five times in rapid succession. 

Sparks fell after the first shot was
fired. There was no evidence of any
ill feeling existing between Sparks
and Ball prior to the homicide.
Ball was indicted for first-degree
murder. On May 22, 1948, he was
arraigned without counsel to represent 
him. The trial judge designated
a lawyer present in the courtroom
to enter pleas in his behalf.
The petition contends that Ball's
rights and desires were "completely
ignored." It states that the lawyer
designated by the court did not introduce 
himself to Ball, did not advise 
with him, made no investigation 
whatsoever, and even advised 
the court that he did not represent 
Ball.
Failure to make an "effective appointment" 
of counsel vitiates the
conviction, it is asserted in the brief
in support of the petition for review. 

It also is pointed out in the petition 
and brief that no attack upon
the indictment was made on the
ground that colored persons were
systematically and intentionally excluded 
from the grand jury which
indicted Ball.
According to the last United States
census, Calhoun County had a population 
of about 50,200 white persons
and 12,900 colored persons. Thirty
persons were summoned to serve
on the grand jury which indicted
Ball, None of them was colored.
At the time of a hearing on a
motion for a new trial, it was disclosed 
that there were 2,500 names
in the jury box, that approximately
120 persons were summoned each
year to serve upon grand juries, and
that from 400 to 500 jurors were
summoned for petit jury service during 
the five-year period proceding
the indictment.
It also was disclosed that only one
colored person had been called for
grand jury service and only one had
been called for petit service in that
five-year period.
The trial judge, less than a week
before Ball's trial, appointed a lawyer 
to represent Ball. The petition
and brief states that this attorney
made no motion for a continuance
of the trial or a change of venue.
Attorneys not employed to represent 
Ball, and not representing him,
requested a continuance.
The trial judge denied the continuance 
because local animosity
and feeling was so hostile, inflamed,
prejudiced and biased against Ball
that the people of Calhoun County
would storm the jail were he not
tried on June 7, 1948.
This action on the part of the
trial judge, the brief contends, constitutes 
a denial of due process of
law.
Ball is represented by G. Ernest
Jones, Roderick Beddow and G.
Ernest Jones, Jr., all Birmingham
attorneys.
The Western States now have
21,120,000 acres under irrigation in
Federal and private projects and
studies by the Bureau of Reclamation 
indicate that water can be
supplied to an additional 16,840,000
new acres.

IRRIGATION
All the constitutional safeguards 
to a fair and impartial trial
were thrown overboard in the case
of an ignorant colored laborer convicted 
of first-degree murder in
Calhoun County, Alabama, according 
to a petition filed in the United
States Supreme Court last Monday.
Lonnie James Ball, who is under
sentence of death, asked the Supreme 
Court to review his conviction
on the ground that he was denied all
procedural safeguards which were
his right and against the loss of
which the trial court had the duty
to protect him.
According to the State's evidence,
Police Chief Sparks, of Oxford, Alabama, 
accompanied by another policeman, 
a Mr. Billingsley, were called 
to a combination service station
and store, where Ball had created a
disturbance. Ball was cursing and
using loud language in the presence
of white and colored persons.
The two officers arrested Ball and
placed him in the police car unarmed. 
He sprang from the car and
grabbed Billingsley, Billingsley and
Ball both fell to the ground but during 
the scuffle Billingsley's pistol
was fired five times in rapid succession. 

Sparks fell after the first shot was
fired. There was no evidence of any
ill feeling existing between Sparks
and Ball prior to the homicide.
Ball was indicted for first-degree
murder. On May 22, 1948, he was
arraigned without counsel to represent 
him. The trial judge designated
a lawyer present in the courtroom
to enter pleas in his behalf.
The petition contends that Ball's
rights and desires were "completely
ignored." It states that the lawyer
designated by the court did not introduce 
himself to Ball, did not advise 
with him, made no investigation 
whatsoever, and even advised 
the court that he did not represent 
Ball.
Failure to make an "effective appointment" 
of counsel vitiates the
conviction, it is asserted in the brief
in support of the petition for review. 

It also is pointed out in the petition 
and brief that no attack upon
the indictment was made on the
ground that colored persons were
systematically and intentionally excluded 
from the grand jury which
indicted Ball.
According to the last United States
census, Calhoun County had a population 
of about 50,200 white persons
and 12,900 colored persons. Thirty
persons were summoned to serve
on the grand jury which indicted
Ball, None of them was colored.
At the time of a hearing on a
motion for a new trial, it was disclosed 
that there were 2,500 names
in the jury box, that approximately
120 persons were summoned each
year to serve upon grand juries, and
that from 400 to 500 jurors were
summoned for petit jury service during 
the five-year period proceding
the indictment.
It also was disclosed that only one
colored person had been called for
grand jury service and only one had
been called for petit service in that
five-year period.
The trial judge, less than a week
before Ball's trial, appointed a lawyer 
to represent Ball. The petition
and brief states that this attorney
made no motion for a continuance
of the trial or a change of venue.
Attorneys not employed to represent 
Ball, and not representing him,
requested a continuance.
The trial judge denied the continuance 
because local animosity
and feeling was so hostile, inflamed,
prejudiced and biased against Ball
that the people of Calhoun County
would storm the jail were he not
tried on June 7, 1948.
This action on the part of the
trial judge, the brief contends, constitutes 
a denial of due process of
law.
Ball is represented by G. Ernest
Jones, Roderick Beddow and G.
Ernest Jones, Jr., all Birmingham
attorneys.
The Western States now have
21,120,000 acres under irrigation in
Federal and private projects and
studies by the Bureau of Reclamation 
indicate that water can be
supplied to an additional 16,840,000
new acres.

Billy Holiday Victor
In $75,000 Contract Suit
The
$75,000 contract suit recently
brought by Ed Fishman, self styled 
Hollywood artist manager
against Sepia Singing star Billy Holiday, 
backfired here Thursday
(February 17) after six days of
court wrangling, with Fishman on
the butt end of a non suit. Another
count in the suit brought by Fishman 
involving $3,200 he allegedly
spent in readying Miss Holiday for
her "come back" following her release 
from incarceration in a federal 
correctional institution, is yet
to be decided upon.
On January 31, the U. S. Government 
deficit amounted to $3,
26,146,000. This was almost three
times the deficit of a year ago,
which their amounted to $1,144,867,000. 

Community proptry laws do not
aply to GI Insurance.

GOVERNMENT DEFICIT
The
$75,000 contract suit recently
brought by Ed Fishman, self styled 
Hollywood artist manager
against Sepia Singing star Billy Holiday, 
backfired here Thursday
(February 17) after six days of
court wrangling, with Fishman on
the butt end of a non suit. Another
count in the suit brought by Fishman 
involving $3,200 he allegedly
spent in readying Miss Holiday for
her "come back" following her release 
from incarceration in a federal 
correctional institution, is yet
to be decided upon.
On January 31, the U. S. Government 
deficit amounted to $3,
26,146,000. This was almost three
times the deficit of a year ago,
which their amounted to $1,144,867,000. 

Community proptry laws do not
aply to GI Insurance.

BROTHERHOOD WEEK

BROTHERHOOD WEEK
IGNORANCE
INTOLERANCE
BIGOTRY
HATE

SPOTLIGHTING THE CULPRIT
BROTHERHOOD WEEK
IGNORANCE
INTOLERANCE
BIGOTRY
HATE

Peace Restored In Liberia
After Rubber Workers Riot
Rioting by workers on the Firestone
Rubber plantations some 20 miles
inland from the capital, seriously
disturbed the peace and tranquility 
of Liberia, the only Republic on
this continent, this past week. The
trouble, which began over wages and
was a recurrence of a disturbance
which broke out a month ago, flared
again after a report had been made
by a committee which had been set
up to negotiate greviances among
the workers on the 60,000 acre rubber 
plantation owned by the Firestone 
Tire and Rubber Company of
Akron, Ohio. Peace had been restored 
by the middle of the week,
however, after armed riflemen and
police guards had been dispatched
to the plantation.
Scarcely was the rubber incident
quelled than 350 workers at the Bomi 
Hills mining concession some 40
miles in the interior, also halted
work, set up road blocks and refused 
workers who were not involved 
as well as ordinary citizens opportunity 
to pass. The workers there
have been quieted also for the time
being but these unusual disturbances 
are an indication of unrest
which Liberia will have to handle

carefully to avoid shocks to the
country's economy.
President William V. S. Tubman
proclaimed a state of emergency
after the Firestone workers, armed
with machetes, began destroying
valuable young rubber trees "in a
mad fury." The writ of habeas corpus 
was suspended during the emergency. 
The government took the
position that destruction of property 
could not be tolerated.
The firestone Company, which
has a 1,000,000 acre concession on
which to grow rubber, employs
about 30,000 Liberians. Firestone
is the largest employer in the country. 
Likewise the rubber which is
produced on these plantations constitute 
the greatest part of Liberia's
exports to other countries. Last
year it was more than 60 percent
of all the export business done by
Liberia.
The average wage of a Firestone
worker is 45 cents per day plus certain 
rice allotments and purchase
preferences. The Bomi Hills project
which is also American owned (Liberian 
Mining Company with offices 
in New York) pays a similar

wage. In fact that is the prevalent
wage in Liberia. Employers point
out that wages have always been
low in Liberia and that native Liberian 
rubber growers are the ones
who insist on keeping them so,
Ledgend credits Firestone with offering 
to pay $1.00 a day when he
entered Liberia but that Liberian
merchants and planters declared
such a wage level would ruin them.
Details of the report made by the
committee appointed a month ago to
go into wage scales and complaints
against working conditions have not
been made public. Apparently the
results were not satisfactory to the
workers and the riots resulted.
Among the charges frequently heard
are that many of the several hundred 
white American workers employed 
by Firestone are insolent and
overbearing. No Negro Americans
are employed nor are there any Liberians 
working in executive positions 
in the Firestone empire. Model 
villages have been erected for
native workers and excellent hospital 
facilities have been maintained. 


30,000 LIBERIANS EMPLOYED
Rioting by workers on the Firestone
Rubber plantations some 20 miles
inland from the capital, seriously
disturbed the peace and tranquility 
of Liberia, the only Republic on
this continent, this past week. The
trouble, which began over wages and
was a recurrence of a disturbance
which broke out a month ago, flared
again after a report had been made
by a committee which had been set
up to negotiate greviances among
the workers on the 60,000 acre rubber 
plantation owned by the Firestone 
Tire and Rubber Company of
Akron, Ohio. Peace had been restored 
by the middle of the week,
however, after armed riflemen and
police guards had been dispatched
to the plantation.
Scarcely was the rubber incident
quelled than 350 workers at the Bomi 
Hills mining concession some 40
miles in the interior, also halted
work, set up road blocks and refused 
workers who were not involved 
as well as ordinary citizens opportunity 
to pass. The workers there
have been quieted also for the time
being but these unusual disturbances 
are an indication of unrest
which Liberia will have to handle

carefully to avoid shocks to the
country's economy.
President William V. S. Tubman
proclaimed a state of emergency
after the Firestone workers, armed
with machetes, began destroying
valuable young rubber trees "in a
mad fury." The writ of habeas corpus 
was suspended during the emergency. 
The government took the
position that destruction of property 
could not be tolerated.
The firestone Company, which
has a 1,000,000 acre concession on
which to grow rubber, employs
about 30,000 Liberians. Firestone
is the largest employer in the country. 
Likewise the rubber which is
produced on these plantations constitute 
the greatest part of Liberia's
exports to other countries. Last
year it was more than 60 percent
of all the export business done by
Liberia.
The average wage of a Firestone
worker is 45 cents per day plus certain 
rice allotments and purchase
preferences. The Bomi Hills project
which is also American owned (Liberian 
Mining Company with offices 
in New York) pays a similar

wage. In fact that is the prevalent
wage in Liberia. Employers point
out that wages have always been
low in Liberia and that native Liberian 
rubber growers are the ones
who insist on keeping them so,
Ledgend credits Firestone with offering 
to pay $1.00 a day when he
entered Liberia but that Liberian
merchants and planters declared
such a wage level would ruin them.
Details of the report made by the
committee appointed a month ago to
go into wage scales and complaints
against working conditions have not
been made public. Apparently the
results were not satisfactory to the
workers and the riots resulted.
Among the charges frequently heard
are that many of the several hundred 
white American workers employed 
by Firestone are insolent and
overbearing. No Negro Americans
are employed nor are there any Liberians 
working in executive positions 
in the Firestone empire. Model 
villages have been erected for
native workers and excellent hospital 
facilities have been maintained. 


It's FLAVOR-BALANCED
make 51 your beer
Smoothnever
bitter 

Mildbut 
never
sweet



TENNESSEE BREWING CO., MEMPHIS. TENN.

What Is Bro'hood?

Christian and Jews, in universal
Christian brotherhood, in the unity
of the Christian Church, and I
esteem and love those who work for
these ends.
That farce within the Churches
that there should be those who substitute 
racialism for our universal
faith and are unwilling even while
they proclaim brotherhood to worship 
side by side with their fellow
believers or to sit around a table in
brotherly council as fellow believers
of the one God in whom we all profess 
to believe. This is to me, a
great grief.
It is no the concern of Negroes
alone. It is the concern of every
Christian not to let our faith be so
subverted. If men and women must
be unbrotherly let them at least not
do it in the name of Judaism and
Christianity, religious which proclaim 
the one Universal God and
the Creator and Judge, the Lord
and Father of all men alike and all
men to be brothers one of another.
Where is our integrity if at the same
time we proclaim brotherhood we
practice racial exclusiveness?
To Jews, as a Christian, I feel
humble, for we have persecuted you
in the very name of the Christ,
himself a Jew who died for love of
all men. I only beg of you to consider 
where the doctrine of the
Master Aryan Race of white supremacy 
has led in the recent history 
of your people in Europe. How
can you support it now in America?
You share with us faith in the one
true God-Your fellow Jews have
died for it! Will you not stand with
us for human brotherhood under
God.
To Catholics I would say I love
and admire the Catholic nature of
your church. It is its glory to have
been through the centuries truly
Catholic, universal embracing in one
fellowship men and women of every
race, class and nation. You have
held fast to the divinely instituted
nature of this fellowship as a bond

no man has a right to destroy. The
present Pope has proclaimed racialism 
to be one of the greatest sing
in the world today, and has called
on all Catholics to eliminate it from
their own lives and from the
Church life. Will you permit
in the name of Catholicism to in 
racialsim as a division into a fellowship 
designed to stand on a purely
religious basis and to inject it as a
division even between Catholics?
To my fellow white Protestants I
would say—As unmistakely as the
voice of Catholic Christianity, the
voice of Protestant Christianity has
spoken on this issue—Let us listen.
Oxford, 1937—With one voice the
delegates of the World's Protestant
Churches assembled said:—"Moreover 
it is a first responsibility of
the Church to demonstrate within
its own fellowship the reality of
community as God intends it. It is
commissioned to call all men into
the Church into a divine society
that transcends all national and
racial limitations and divisions—To
allow the Churches line of action to
be determined by racial discrimination 
denies the Gospel whose proclamation 
is its nature and commission." 

To my Negro fellow Christians I
would say—Keep your faith in the
Church despite our songs of untherliness, 
and with brotherly forgiveness 
keep your faith in us that
we may yet all team together to walk
as we profess to do as brothers one
of another.
Let all of us together learn to
answer the question "What is Brotherhood" 
by acting upon the call
of the Christian faith expressed in
the message of the World Council
of Churches, Amsterdam 1948.
"We need to learn afresh together
to speak boldly in Christ's name,
both to those in power and to the
people, to oppose terror cruelty and
race discrimination, to stand by the
outcast, the prisoner and the refugee. 
We have to make of the church
in every place a voice for those who
have no voice, and a home where
every man will be at home."

Eichleberger Presides
Over Church Council Meet
Mr.
James W. Eichelberger, general secretary 
of the AME Zion Church,
presided last Wednesday over the
meeting of the Interdenominational 
Council of Denominational Executives, 
Religious Education Section, 
at the Deshler Welluke Hotel 
here.
He is chairman of the section,
and it was the first time a colored 
churchman had presided over
the group, composed of executives
of council member boards of Christian 
education. Of the forty denominations 
being members, only five
are colored.
Dr. Elehelberger left here after
the session for Detroit, where he
was to conduct the worship service
for the Federal Council of Churches 
Conference on Church and Economic 
Life.
Charles P. Taft, well known
church leader, delivered the lay
address at the conference over
which Dr. Eichelberger presided.