Richmond planet., 1907-07-20
AMERICAN MAGAZINE
DOING GREAT SERVICE
Mr.. Ray Stannard Baker Continues
His Narrative on the COlOr=Line.

Soon after my arrival in Atlanta.
and when / had begun 20 understand
some OF the more apparent ramifica-
tions of the color line Gas I related
last MONTH. asked several South
ern men whose acquaintance I had
made where I could best see the poor
er or criminal class OF Negroes. So
much has been said OF the danger
arising from this element OF South
ern population and Il plays such a
part in every discussion OF the race
question that I was anxious % learn
all l could about Il.
Go down any morning 20 Judge
Broyles court" they said 20 me.
"and youln see the lowest OF the
low"
So I went down-the FIRST OF many
visits have made to police and JUS
tice courts since I came down here.
chose n Monday morning that ]
might see TO the best advantage the
accumulation OF the arrests OF sat
urday and Sunday.
The police station stands in Deca-
tur street, in the midst OF the very
worst section OF the city. surround
ed by low saloons, dives and pawn
shops. The court occupies a great
room upstairs. and Il was crowded
that morning TO its capacity. Be
sides the police, lawyers, court OH
GERS and white witnesses, at least
one hundred and dfty spectators fll
ed the seats behind the rail. nearly
all OF them Negroes.
The ordinary Negro loves nothing
better than to sit and watch the
proceedings OF court. Judge
Broyles-"B Briles," the Negroes call
him-kindly invited me TO a seat on
the platform at his side where I
could look into the faces OF the pris-
.oners and hear all that was said.
IN A SOUTHERN POLICE COURT.
IL was a profoundly interesting and
significant spectacle. In the first
place the very number OF cases was
staggering. The docket that morn
ing carried over one hundred names
men, women and children. white
and black; the court worked hard.
but IL was nearly two'oclock in the
afternoon before the room was clear
ed. Atlanta, as I showed In a for
mer article. has the largest number
OF arrests. considering the popula-
ton, of any important city in the
United States. / found that 1851
OF the total of 21,702 persons ar
rested in 1906 were Negroes, or six
ty-two percent. whereas the coIored
population of the city is only forty
per cent OF the total.
A very large proportion OF the ar
rests that Monday morning were Ne
groes, with a surprising proportion
OF women and OF mere children.
Last year 3,I94 Negro women were
arrested in Atlanta. Ii was alto
gether pitiful and disheartening ex
hibition' spectacle OF sodden ignor
ance, reckless vice, dissipation. Most
OF the cases, raveled out, led back to
the saloon.
Where's your homer" the Judge
would ask, and in n number of cases
the answer was:
An come here FUN de country. f"
over and over again it was the
story of the country Negro or the
Negro who had been working
on the railroad. in the cotton
helds or in the saw mills. who
had entered upon the more complex
life OF the city. Most of the coun-
try districts of the South prohibit
the sale OF liquor: and Negroes. es-
pecially. have comparatively little
temptation OF this nature. nor are
they subjected TO the many other
ghttering pitfalls OF city life. But
OF late years the opportunities of the
city have attracted the black people.
Just as they have the whites, in large
numbers Atlanta has many sa-
looms and other places of vicp. and
the results are to be seen in Judge
Broyles' court any morning. And
nut only Negroes, but the poor
whites" who have come in from the
mountains and the small farms to
work in the mills; they, too suffer
fully as much as the Negroes.
NEGRO COCAINE VICTIMS.
Not few OF the cases both black