The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1921-06-18

ION that. there Is more involved in
these appointments of our supposed
race leaders than mere S., 1000 salary.
In fact, The Tribune is not elated
over either of the three appointments
that have been dished out to our
group. They are nothing more than
mere clerkships. The first one, that
of Lieut.. Flipper, is regarded as the
best Of the three. The last two,
of Phil Brown and Perry Howard,
apparently show that the pie hunters
are tired of waiting and are willing
to accept any old thing offered. Of
what service is either of these ap-
pointments to the race?
Neither Of these appointments come
under the category of presidential
appointments" requiring their names
to be sent up to the Senate for con-
firmation. They have no definite
status and may be cut out at any
time. Therefore President Harding
has not made a single appointment of
colored man during the IL weeks
of his administration.
In a recent public address, Mr..
Brown said that he chad no plans
for his department and in accepting
the position he was not pleased with
the paragraph setting forth the sta
tus of his position Then why show
the yellow streak and accept a posi-
ton, the status of which does not
meet with ones moral sense of equity
and justice? Yet the information is
sent out that these appointments are
of great benefit to the race.
Why complain of segregation in the
civil service, then turn around and
accept Especial clerkship" where
one is placed off in segregated cor
ner and given insifnifcant, segregat-
ed duties? Is there consistency in
this? If the Republican Party has a
sense of appreciation for the con-
slant and unfailing support of color
ed people, now is the time to demon
strate it. We are of the opinion that
the G. O. P. is long on promises, but
short on fulfilling them. And our
supposed race leaders, politicians, ct
al, should have the moral courage of
their convictions and not fall for
every worn-eaten plum that may be
offered. Especially is this true in the
case of Mr.. Brown and MIR. Howard,
who are in a financial position en-
abling them to be more cautious in
accepting these Especial" segregated,
"assistant-ship." The race is demand
ing appointments commensurate with
it's political power, it's intelligence
and taxpaying worth, and our polit-
ical leaders should support US in this
demand
It will be recalled that the elm
crow assistant" business was started
during the world war, when the then
secretary Of war appointed a colored
man as a "confdential clerk as
shown}by the official records. It was
given out that he was Especial as
sistant to the secretary of war;" and
many of the people were deceived
and really believed that colored
man had been appointed assistant
secretary of war. It. was evidently a
camoufage for that specific purpose.
Those who were versed in such things
knew that a real assistant secretary
to any member of the Presidents
cabinet, must be nominated by the
President and confirmed by the Sen
ate. The so-called special assistant"
to the Democratic secretary of war
was simply a ':handy man" to act as
a buffer between Baker and the col
ored people when they came to make
complaints about the outrageous
treatment of the colored soldiers in
the jimcrow cars and jimcrow train
ing camps in the United States and
in the labor battalions and on the
firing line in France. The Especial
assistant" had no actual status as an
official of the government.
In the campaign of 1920, THE APP
PEAL called the attention of the
Republican managers to the fact that
in a previous campaign, Marcus A.
Hanna had appointed three colored
men as actual members of the Ad-
visory Committee of the Republican
National Committee and advised that
the same be done in the Harding
Coolidge campaign and that jim
crowism be entirely eliminated. In
this THE APPEAL was supported by
a number of prominent colored men
from all parts of the country. Then
Henry Lincoln johnson of Georgia
won for himself his place as Repub-
lican national committeeman, from
Georgia. THE APPEAL was proud
of his success which he had achieved
! in spite of the efforts of Roosevelt
and other leaders to prevent his cleo.
tion, and sent him letter of con
graduation and suggested that he
ought to be memebr of the execu-
tive committee of the party organ
| ization and offered what little aid