Twin-City herald. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1927-1940, 1932-12-10

man, the racaii members and to the
white press. The Negro business man
can obtain recognition and prestige
provided that he operates intelligent
ly and conserves his assets wisely
Members Of the ract should now re-
alize that their foremost weapon to
wage the battles in our western civil
ization is that Of economic power and
wealth. The white press can play an
important part In the economic devel-
opment of the Negro by taking such
incidents as exemplffied by the North
Carolina Life Insurance Company and
writing both feature article and an
editorial about them.
Western Civilization and Negro
That the Negro business man
through his financial and mercantile
enterprises should be the foremost
agency through which the race will
gain greater and speedier social and
economic prestige, Is irrefutable. Fun
damentally considered our western
civilization is characterized by intri-
cate REORGANIZATION, callous material
ism and scientific achievements. The
machine is rapidly, but dangerously
annihilating the necessity for either
mental or physical labor. Our econo-
mic system of price controls and COM
petitive regulators permits tons of
grain to be stored away, rottening in
the elevators, while thousands are dy-
ing from starvation. Labors and
works of scientific men have made it
possible for distance to become elm
mated, energies and powers residing
in the atom are fund to be almost in
exhaustible and the resources of the
earth are discovered to be limitless.
But in the world of physical sci
ences and startling inventions, there
is another factor which prevents man
from fully mastering his situation and
that is his generally low intellectual
development. Hence his inability to
prevent panics, to perfect an equit-
able system of the economic distri-
button of wealth and his general pow
erlessness to obliterate from his mind
the multifarious prejudices, crude be-
liefs and emotional fantasies. Thus,
civilizations begin, mature and de-
cline because their complexities and
intricaces become too unweldly for
the inhabitants to manage and con-
troll.
And in our land. American we can
discern the outpourings Of these emo
tional inclinations of highly prejudic-
ed ad mechanical beings by looking
squarely at the Negroes status. So
cial customs, castles and even creeds
are the result of group action and
habits, rather than intelligence or ra
tionalism. Thus, man lives largely in
the past, rather than in the present
for he is ruled by precedent The
Negro finds himself in which he must
and can extricate himself.
And although many ways and man
ners have been suggested, yet, the
economic plan should be given fair
trial. This has been demonstrated to
be the most effective in elevating a
race from the cesspool of social re-
strictions and hostilities. For that
reason "The Rise of the House of
Rothschild" should be read by every
Negro 1t tells in vivid language the
crushing social barriers placed in the
paths of Jews and yet, through finan-
cial manipulations, manoeuvers and
dealings they attained such distinc
tions as barons and consul generals.
With their rise they obtained social
rights and privileges for their people.
So with the North Carolina Mutual
Life Insurance Company. Fundamen
tally it is an instrument, primarily en-
gagged in gaining greater social and
economic recognition and prestige fol-
the Negro. Before IAN editorial may
have been written about chicken steal
ing, or the good darkies, but today
we find one being written about astute
business men who have stood calm
and firm in a terrific storm wher
other financial craft were sent adrif
on the shoals Of bankruptcy. Some
may say that the editorial is insight
ficant, but those who understand the
conditions in Dixie will proclaim Its
remarkability and uniqueness.
This should then serve as an impor
tant lesson to the Negro business maj
for if he operates efficiently and prof
itably he will sooner or later gail
recognition. The better he operates
and the more wealth he accumulate.
and commands, the greater will b,