The Omaha guide., 1933-09-23
SUPPORTING N. r. A.
CODE FOR RACE

NEW YORK-Because he refused
to sign a statement saying ne thought
Negro workers ought to have a low
er wage than that provided in the
NRA code. the Rev. Z d. Hughes
A M E. minister of Selma, Ala.
has been driven out of town by lead.
ing whites, including the chief of po-
lice, the secretary Of the chamber of
commerce, and the president of a
bank.
A hair raising account of how he
was forced to jump from 8 speeding
automobile and hide under bushes in
a ditch in order to escape a mob of
pursuing whites, is contained in a
statement given a representative of
the National Association for the Ad-
vancement of Colored People by Rev.
Hughes
A complete statement telling in de
tail Of the abuses heaped upon Mr..
Hughes has been received here by
the N. A. A. C. P. Protest has
been made to General Hugh S. John
son with a request that he take action
against those who seek to block the
operation of the PRESIDENT agree
ments and use violence to enforce
their desires.
S. a Week for Girls
The Rev. Mr. Hughes, now resid-
ing in another Alabama city until he
can get his wife out of the state, was
the pastor of the Brown Chapel A.
M. E church in Selma and president
of the Selma Ministerial Alliance.
On August 20 one F. j. Ames, own
er of the Selma Manufacturing com
pany, sent to the Minister'S Alliance
a private code for their approval.
The code named SO so a week min
mum wages for colored men, SO a
women and Sc a week for colored
week minimum wages for colored
girls from IA to 16 years of age. He
asked the colored ministers to ap-
prove the code.
Instead. the ministers wrote him a
letter saying they had read Presid-
ent Roosevelt's code. They made no
comment on the Ames code.
August "a Rev. Mr. Hughes was
taken before a committee of between
thirty and thirty five of the sub
stantial white citizens of Selma at
the courthouse. Bruce S. Craig act
ed as spokesman for the whites and
after a few questions told Mr.. Hugh
es:
"24 Hours to Leave Town
"Your record has been thoroughly
investigated and we have found that
you are not the type of citizen that
exactly fits into a community like
Selma and Dallas county, therefore
we have decided that "a hours from
this minute, which is now 1926 p. m,
r long enough for you to get your
business together and get out of
town and Dallas county.
Rev. Hughes says he recogized the
follswig persons at the meeting:
Bruce c. Craig, Norman Standfield,
chief of police, Hunt c.. Frazier, Sc
eretary of the Chamber of Commerce;
and E. C. Melvin, president of the
Selma national bank Mr.. Hughes
says he was offered $500 before this
occurrence to go to Washington and
urge an So wage for Negroes.
Hides in Bushes
Mr. Hughes did not leave at once
however, delaying until two days lat
err, August &c. That afternoon five
carloads of officers came to hi:
house and chased his car which wa.
just being driven away to be fillet
with gasoline by a friend. When they
caught it and arrested the driver
they doubled back to get Hughes
who meantime had been warned by
fellow pastor and taken away in tn,
car of his friend The two wer,
chased five Or six miles out of Selm;
at sixty miles an hour. Mr.. Hughe!
had his friend slow down to 25 mile;
an hour in a cloud of dust and h
jumped from the car and rolled int,
a ditch while the whirled by after tn,
car which had dropped him.
Mr. Hughes lay in the ditch unde
bushes until nightfall and made hi
way on foot to another town wher
he secured a ride to a large city.
Mr. Hughes is a native of Pales
tine, Arkansas He has pastore
churches in Oklahoma and Louisiana
His wife was Miss Matte L. Marti
of Baskerville, Arkansas.