The Nashville globe. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1906-193?, 1907-07-12

An important and far-reaching opin-
ion was handed down by the Inter
state Commerce Commission Monday,
July 8, in the case of Miss Georgia
Edwards against the Nashville, Chat
tanooga and st. Louis Railroad.
Miss Edwards, the complainant, pur-
chased first-class ticket from Chat
tanooga, Tenn, to Dalton, Ca, but be-
ing denied the accommodations fur
nished in another part of the train to
whites, she went thither, knowing she
should receive the same or similar
treatment there or in like apartments.
But her contention that as a first-class
passenger she was entitled to all the
conveniencies and comforts of any 9TH
er class of first-class passengers, was
dis-allowed by the agents of the said
defendant Railroad Company, and she
was carried by force back to the I'M
inviting compartment set aside for col
ored passengers, although she had
paid as much for transportation as
any one of the white passengers. She
bad paid for benefits she did not re.
ceive, and she let that fact be known.
Brute force was used to force her to
accept conditions too humiliating. She
was reminded by physical tyranny
that her color doomed her to lot she
must endure, despite her protest She
was given to understand that the first
class ticket she had purchased, which
was bona fde contract with the N. G.
& st. L. Railroad for f1rst-class trans
portation, meant anything or nothing
to her-any kind or no kind of treat
ment in fact, her ticket was subter-
tuge and a trick-a contract with a
hold-faced lie written on it's face in so
far as she was concerned.
But she was a womanly woman who
resolved not to stand for such treat
nent. She did not nurse her griev-
ance in silence, but carried it to the
tribunal of last resort having jurisdic-
ton of such matters She wanted to
ascertain whether a powerful railroad
corporation had any more right to pro-
cure her money under false pretenses
than an individual, be he low or high,
fake or bunco-man. She protested
that it was anything but human to
put her into the smaller of two COM
partments of the same coach with
white men using the other as a dram
shop and a smoking rendezvous.
1t is a universally known fact
Throughout the South that the white
| men who frequent the smoker end of
the car, the other end of which
ID set aside for first-class Negro
passengers, have a fendish pen
chant for using the private room
in the Negroes part. They DELHI
erately leave their part and take pos
session of the Negroes, preferring it, it
seems This small compartment,
which comprises the Negroes smoker,
chair car, dining-car, observation car
and sleeper, is usurped by that class
of whites that squawks the loudest
about the intermingling of the races,
yet is always found counting the So
ciety of Negroes.
Miss Edwards had no earthly objec-
ton to being separated from the 10Th
err woman" if the accommodations ac-
corded her and the "other woman"
had been the same in every respect.
But as she had no wash-bowl nor any
of the other conveniences which were
furnished for white passengers to re-
gale themselves, she, being a first-class
passenger, awaited herself of the oc-
commodations furnished such passen-
gers. The doing of this subjected her
to the indignities of the agents of the
railroad company, and she carried her
complaint to the Interstate Commerce
Commission to know why she, an
American citizen, was denied the bene-
fits accorded other American citizens
by common carrier. She averred
mat she had been Disseminated
against by the N. @. & st. L. r. r. Co.
on the account of he color, which is