The Washington times., 1904-02-21
The Pullman Innovation.
The Form of "Jim Crow Car" Adopted
by the Pullman Company.

by the Pullman Company.
According TO the 'New York Even
ing Post" the action which the Pull
man ear managers have taken regard
ing colored passengers Is causing In.
dlgnation among colored people of
the better class. The "Pcst" asks if
The interstate commerce laws do not
cover such action. 1t is said that col
ored people cannot now obtain seats
or berths in Pullman cars IN many of
the Southern States, Tennessee being
the first State in which such accom-
modations were refused. The
grounds Tor refusal are that the cars
are full, that there arc no sleeping
cars on the train, etc, but II IS GER
tain enough that the real reason is 4
dcsire to draw the color line.
This IS the latest development of
struggle which has been going on for
some time between popular sentiment
and money interests, for nobody can
plead sentiment on the part of the
railway people. Strong efforts have
been made in Louisiana, Mississippi,
aud other Southern States which have
passed Jim Crow" laws. TO compel
the Pullman Car Company to observe
these laws Until very lately they
have not done so, selling seats and
berths to eOlored people and white, in
separate ears If the traffic warranted
It, in the same ear if the separate car
cid not pay. OF course, they violated
the laws of the State in which they
happened to be carrying passengers,
but 1t was cheaper to pay fine now
and then thaIf to lose the profits of
the colored passenger trade. In sew
eTal States the accommodations pro-
vided for eolored people on the rail
ways are so poor, and the company IN
which respectable people of that race
found themselves was so obiectiona-
ble-the ears being often used as
smoking ears by white men who
laughed atrthe regulations of the COM
pany-that those who could afford to
pay the extra fare demanded by the
/ Pullman agents usually Travelled III
that way, when they would, in the
North, have taken the ordinary pas
senger car. The-fact that good hotel
accommodations for eolored people
cannot often be obtained in the South
also led many well-to-do negroes to
take a berth in a sleeping car and
travel straight through to their desti-
nation, instead of stopping on the
way.
All these things made 1t more profit
able for the Pullman Car Company
to disregard the State laws IN the
South than it would have been in the
North, while the number of colored
passengers did not make it worth
their while to run separate Pullman
cars on all the roads, if, indeed, they
were run anywhere. The opposition
to their action was due mostly 90 race
prejudice. 1t is not reported that the
eolored passengers on Pullman car
were Objectionable in their behavior
and they naturally belonged to the
better class of their race, since th'
poor could not afford to pay the extra
fare. Near New Orleans and othel
Large Southern cities 1T was usual fOl
these colored people to take parlol
ears even on short pleasure journeys
since such pleasure parties were LA
bile otherwise 10 find themselves IN the
same ear with a gang of eonviets be
ing transported from one place 10 an
other. or to become the target Of un
pleasant comment by white men o
1.-The lower class, smoking bad tobacco
Now that the Pullman car is forbid
den them, it looks as if they woul'
H.. - .1o,,A Xbo+ o1fo,-r tive