Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-12-02
VIRTUAL SLAVERY IN SOUTH
STATE LAWS UPHOLD INVoLUN.
TARY sERvITUDE.
Unwary Workmen Are Entrapped
Into Service Which They May
Not Give Up.

In a report to the Attorney General
concerning his findings relating to peonage
In the south. Assistant Attorney General
Charles W. Russell makes a strong recon-
mendation that the statute relating to
slavery be amended in a manner which
| will destroy all doubt as to the meaning OF
| Involuntary servitude' as set forth there
in. He also suggests changes in state
laws.
These state laws take various forms
and are used in various ways to uphold
peonage and other kinds Of involuntary
| servitude. Some Of them are vagrancy
laws, some contract labor or employment
laws. some fraudulent pretenses or false
promise laws, and there are divers others.
Some few Of those in question. such as
absconding debtor laws. labor enticing and
board bills, were not originally passed to
enslave workmen but in view Of the use
to which they are put they need amend
ment in order that they cannot be SO
abused.
Workmen Held in Service.
"These laws are used to threaten work.
men who. having been defrauded into going
to an employer by false reports as to the
conditions of employment and the sur
roundings. naturally become dissatisfied
as soon as they find how they have been
defrauded They are used before juries
and the local public to hold up the poems
seeking to avoid their just obligations
| and to convince patriotic juries that the
defendants accused of peonage should not
be convicted for enforcing, still less for
threatening to enforce, the laws Of their
state.
whether constitutional or unconsttu-
tional, they should all be wiped out or SO
amended as to be harmless for the pur-
pose Of enslaving workmen."
Various state laws which practically
place a defaulting laborer in a position Of
involuntary servitude when overtaken by
the law are quoted.
Mr.. Russell continued:
Trap for Workingmen.
GAS I have already suggested, whether
constitutional or not and whether or!gi-
naly intended to be used as they are.
the laws have become a trap for the
enslavement of white workmen as we'll
as black, and ought to be repealed, or
amended with that fact in view. Some
OF them are considered to have been
passed to force negro laborers to work;
but if SO. they are now affecting other
persons, and the states formerly de
pending upon negro laborers exclusively
need twice as many hands, and are re-
sorting to every means to obtain them
from Europe. directly or indirectly"
Mr.. Russell states his impression that
interested persons sometimes seek to
make it appear that the prosecution of
peonage cases is the result of A desire
to injure southern industries in favor
of rivals in tie north. and then says:
II think the course pursued by the
Department Of Justice is the best that
could be taken for the benefit Of the south
and it's progress 1t is familiar course
for those WHO are committing violations
Of the law and common justice and right
to seek to cast the blame for whatever
evils attend the putting an end to such
conduct uron those making the efforts
instead of those guilty OF the conduct.
Peonage and similar evils have been
proven to be prevalent by the numerous
indictments and less frequent convic-
tons. Tae thing to do is not to invent
defenses or excuses or to raise false
cries, but to get rid of the evils