The sun., 1900-07-29
CAUSES or THE NEW ORLEANS RIOTS.
Not Political. but Industrial - white Labor
Crowded Ont by Negro Competition.

| Crowded Ont by Negro Competition.
! NFw ORLEANS July 2s--The present anti
! negro riots have beer expected by those who
have studied the race question ~ this city II
. has been sreaGilv grow ne more threatening for
some years. Eric ion between whites and
! lacks is no lot ger due 10 politcal questions.
| but rather to industra competitor on and the
/ crowding Of negroes into Now Orleans. The
same condition Of affair, exists in several Of the
| other large town, Of this part OF the State. but
! II is worst in New Orleans. into which about
| 10000 negroes have crowded in the last ten
| years bringing the total colored population 10
' 70 100000
/ 1t has b'e1 tho belief of n large majority OF
the people that the rae al bitterness was due to
| politics: that the whites resented the granting
of the fran chise to their former slaves and III.
era Of corruption that followed In the wake Of
the Fifteenth Amendment, ard il was argued
that n the negro was eliminated from poll
t'cs"-that Is. disfranchlsed-thcre would be
little friction or chance OF race trouble. Ex-
porience has shown. or |, showing. that this
view of the matter T. a deu-ion. The negro
vote has been reduced TO minimum, but the
prejudice and bitterness against the nero on
, the rart OF certain classes OF the whites are
ereater than ever. although not SO much II n
racial character as heretofore.
Tho beating and shooting Of ncgroes during
the riots have been committed ny moi Of the
worst riil l-raf IN New Oheaus-hoodlums gut
tersnipes, desperadoes and touchs; but III,
mob would not have been able to do what Il did
and Is doing II there were no, more or ltss
sympathy with II on tho part OF many Of the
poorer whites who are thrown into competition
with the negroes. These white workngmen. 10
~. A
the bloody work OF the mob. What they want
is to have tho negro taken down peg. taught
his place" and they would havs been bes, sats-
fed Il a scare and nothing more ,erious rad
been given to tho negroes But a mob is dilii-
cut TO control. and mob such as that which
has been overrunnin1 the streets OF New Or
leans. hunting, beating and killing n sgroes. l.
from the very fact that It Is composed Of the
lowest elements particularly cruel and bloody.
1hs better classes in New Orleans sympathiza
with the negroes. They ara the emf ,yers Of
negro labor and OF negro domestic wants,
ard they can appreciate the good qualities OF
,ho race. That the riots are not blooGer is due
to the fact that hundreds OF neGroes have been
sheltered in the houses OF the wel-to-do: in
deed, in many cases, women Of the highest
classes irterccded In the street cars 70 protect
the negroes from the bowling mob. 1t Is with
the working people that the prejudice shows
itself: but by many OF them, especially among
the skilled labor in factories. the action OF the
mob Il denounced. lho.e, however who do
the rougher work and have felt the compeu-
ton OF the thousand of negroes who have
rourc into New Orleans from the cotton and
canefeld, entertain a marked preiudlce. and
while few II any Cf them have tken hand in
ths disturba ccs their sympathy with the mob,
and their expressions OF hostility to the negroes
furnished fuel t. the flames. But for that
prejudice and hostility the mob would have
been easily suppressed
There have come into New Orleans in the last
ten years perhap 1900 negroes mostly males,
and their IRE sure in the field OF labor has been
felt by the poorer whites. Ten years ago the
relations between the white and negro laborers
of New Orleans were harmonious and cordial.
Tn, whites organized the negroes into labor
unions, nd the white Dor leaders more or
les, do nina ed these. So ,ial pre!udces rre-
vented a mixture OF the races in these unions.
and to each industry or class O.! labor there were
generally two unions, one for whites and the
other for negroes, There was white Screw
mems L lon and colored S2rewmen' 3 Union:
white Teamsters' and Leaders Union and
also colorad one. and this division continued
thru ugh all the ranSs o labor into which the
negro entered H. the labor paradeS the two
races turned out together, but the negroes werc
required 10 march at the end Of the procession.
In the big strike Of 1892 all the allied trades OF
New Orleans struck. including 20 0oo white mon,
out oi sympathy for "a negro labor organiza-
tion-the Teamsters and Leaders Unlon-and
in order to secure better wages for its members.
This would he imp ssibe to-day. for the white
audi lahor ~ nj iona bav, driitpd far
apart since then.
The negroes managed their union badly and
they would have gone all TO pieces from the
start but for the assistance OF the whites They
broke up entirely when tho races separated In
the field OF labor. VI recover. about this time be-
gan the heavy immigration OF negro labor into
New Orleans which is largely responsible for
present conditions The emigration was due
partly t. the crowdng out OF negroes i1 the
sugar district by the Italians, partly TO the i'm
10 tatiOn OF negroes by contractor, engaged In
the great public works. of paving and draining
urdcr way, ana partly 10 the arrival In the
city Of thousands OF n groas who had ben
driven from the country Districts because they
were deemed dangerous or besonc--'bad
negroes" as thel are called
Tho ,Ower grcdes Of labor have been over
crow ded With negroes for a numb of years
past, and N many Ines the whites have been
shut out altogether The building trad =
are now almos, entirely in the hands OF negroes
not per ceGt OF the men engaged are white.
over soper c,nt. of the men employed In pub-
lc works. paving, canal digging, DC, aro
r,grocs, and, with the great works undertaken
here. the force mounts ar up IN tho thousands
The negroes have crowded the whites entirely
out of tha work Of lovee buildiTc. formerly done
almost .xclAsveIy by white labor; ard they
still have m n poly of loading. hauling. DC
The vhite laborera who have been crowded out
in these ! mes oi work say that the contractors
employ negro labor IN . ference to the wnites
and tlnt they import negro labor from Msss-
all. B.. Whrr. there Is a surplus o' IL, willing 10
work a, tn, oAeape-t wages The contractors
declare that they prefer whit laror, ut hey
cannot .et it. NJ prob0b .ities are. hrwever
tiat they pre- really sa'.sted with the sitration.
for the negroes vogk VOL. arc tractabe ana
cause no tr ubc with labor organizations or
strikes.
t.. lob ska