St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1934-09-21
HERE and
THERE
By w. NJ. Smith

There was time when the man
about town possessed a certain
commendable pride. He might be
hungry, he might be ragged, he
might not have any certain place
to sleep, but when he died he was
certain to have insurance enough
to bury him. Time and again I
have seen such a one pull out his
insurance card and pridefully de-
clare that the city wouldn't have
to bury him.
That pride seems to have de-
parted. In the last few weeks or
months, a number of men have
passed on and left it to friends,
acquaintance or the public to pro-
vide for them a burial, or permit
the city to put them away in the
potter's field or send their bodies
to the university. Hard times
have made it almost impossible for
friends to assume this burden, the
public has grown tired of being
solicited month after month; rela-
tives, usually in another city, have
been embarrassed by an emergency
they could not meet and the poor
undertakers Of these Twin Cities
have had to bear the expense of
kilograms to and from distant
cities and finally face the neces-
sity of paying for burial them
selves or allowing one of their race
to be cut up at the hospital. It's
a hard choice. 1t ought not to be.
Especially when ten or fifteen
cents a week will keep an insur-
ance making all of this unneces-
sary.
Bishop H. Blanton Parks in the
course of his remarks to the N. w.
Conference, just concluded in St.
Paul, said something that every
minister and especially those just
entering upon ministerial course,
should seek to remember. Without
attempting to quote very accurate
ly the bishop declared that in this
day men who enter the ministry
should be prepared. This meant,
he said, that in addition to a full
spiritual preparation they should
have an education received in the
schools, and an understanding of
the spirit of the times gotten from
a familiarity with current events
as noted in the press and the liter
allure of the country. Get out your
books, young men, and study them.
If the bishops advice is fol-
lowed we may have fewer minis
sters, but we'll surely have better
ones.
One of the pleasantest' things
brought to view by the conference
was the finely developed musical
background of the several choirs
that added greatly to it's colorful
sessions.
Individual training and a very
careful instruction under COM
petent directors was evidenced in
the singing that so delighted the
gatherings.
| Human nature is sure to mani
fest itself in asking which of these
organizations is the best. This
columnist has not reached that
stage of temerity where he dare
voice an opinion. This much is
certain: each of the visiting pas
tors will carry home a very definite
impression of the excellencies of
the music rendered, an added re-
spect for the work of Twin City
musicians, and determination to
INSPIRE in his own people the at
tempt to emulate them.
Mrs. Ida Norris, Alonzo Hern-
don, and Richard B. Moore, whose
names should awaken the sympa-
thetic' attention of every Negro,
will be in Minneapolis on Sunday,
Sept. %.
! While neither a Communist, nor
an I. L. D. member, this writer is
none the less deeply concerned
over the fate of the ScottsborO
boys, the young Communist leader
and any other of the group suffer-
ing from the prejudices of race dis
elimination. He holds a great re-
spect for the capable Richard B.