The Washington times., 1923-05-28
AFRICAN DREAM
Of EMPIRE
SHAKEN
Court Is Puncturing Tales OF
SpIendor Circulated by
Marcus Carney.
BY ELSIE MCCORMICK,
,COsmOpOlitan News Service.

empire, are today nearly, shattered.
A few weeks ago they saw them
selves as councillors of state, deal
ing as equals with representatives
of white powers, making treaties,
and directing a great Black star
steamship line that was to belt the
world with African commerce.
Today they are just pullman
porters, elevator operators, and
colored laundresses again, minus
their modest savings and waiting
grlmly for the verdict in the Fed,
eral district court of New York,
where the chief apostle of negro
ruled Africa is on trial for using
the mails to defraud.
Court Room damned.
Every day since the trial began,
the court room has been damned
to overlooking with dis llusloned
members of the colored race who
invested good money in the vision
ofVa jungle empire. Some, fresh
from Columbia University, wear
tortoise-shell trimmed spectacles and
carry brief-cases; others are bald,
Wrinkled and wistful; still others
are spatted, heavy and pompous.
Negro reporters crowd the press
table; ginger-t.nted stenographers
with dangling ear rings follow the
proceedings in shorthand. One grim
old laundr0ss from Harlem knitS
every day with the determination
and fury of woman of the French
revolution who sat at the foot of
the guillotine, knitting as she wait
ed with terrible patience for the
victims head to come off.
That the colored spectators are
drawn by more serious considera-
tons than a desire for entertain
ment is shown by their persistence
IN sitting through the driest legal
deserts in the proceeding, while
hundreds more, held back at the
door by court attendants, stand all
day in the corridors despite the
fact that they can neither see nor
hear.
GarVey Defending Self.
Garvey himself, has been
conducting his own defense, Is tile
type of apostle who could always
be certain of an African following.
Melllfluous in speech, elegant IN
ress. pompous in manner, and gift
cd with a vocabulary that would
make the dictionary turn its face
10 the wall in shame, he has de-
gree of eloquence that would quite
account for his alleged sale of about
S2,OO0,O00 worth of Black Star line
stock to the bellboys and Pullman
porters
Bit by bit. and with vaudeville
trimmings. the tale of the collapse
of the visionary African govern
ment, and the sad debacle of the
Black Star line has been drawn
from the witnesses. The first step
Garvey'S great scheme was tn
establishment of q steamship com
pany which would bRing colonists
to Africa and which. as he stated
n his paper, THE Negro World,
would circle the globe with the
Industries of black men"
Admiral on Stand.
Captain Cockburn, two shades
darker than the ace of spades. oc
cupied the witness stand for sew
eral days while he told of his pros
Dective job as admiral of the
African navy and his term as cap
tain of the Yarmouth, the first of
the negro steamers. Bought, &C
,ording to the testimony, for $685.
900 and sold in 1921 for q paltry
'1,625. after having failed to deliver
A cargo of whiskey to Havana. Tbs
flagship Of the Black Star fleet
has had an unfortunate. history.
With the chief engineer dead drunk
and the ship drifting, Captain Cock
burn testified that a wireless mes
sage saying. we are drinking.
Help u.s." was next sent to New
York and the Yarmouth assisted
home.
Garvey's next nautical venture
was the purchase of a steamer
which he named THE Shady Sd",
and which was to be used for dark
complexion excursions on the Pud-
son. Joseph Wise, it's pilot. tesri-
lied that during its one season Cf
Use. the total receipts were not
enough to pay for the coal.
The third boat purchased was
The Renewal" which Adrian
Richardson, a chocolate-tinted mari
ner, made six attempts to take
from New York to Havana, but
which always inconsiderately blew
out o boiler after a few days
voyage. On the seventh ATTEMPT,
he dusky master mariner brought
he explosive tub 20 Cuba, where
i is now rusting away. These
three ships were the total strength
Of the Black Star Line, for which
sold the $4,000 900 worth of stock.
Still Has Following.
The apostle of negro-ruled
Africa has not yet lost all his fol,
lowing. A few wearers of the red,
green and black buttons that
symbolic citizenship in the future
colored nation are seated among
the spectators in the Federal Dis
trict court. About $1,000 has been
raised among the trustful- for the
GarVey defense fund, which, con.
sidering that the dark Moses con
ducts his own case, is a liberal
amount Garvey's newspaper, THE
Negro World" continues to beat
The ton1-tom for negro liberty and
African redemption. declaring that
'Africa's war CRY is not yet heard
and that the fight for colored free,
dom will he a battle" to the finish
No matter what the outcome of
the present trial it is probable that
the average Pullman porter VIII
took long at his accumulated tips
hn