The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1908-03-10


is very clear that Uncle Sam will have
to use wise discretion applying the
remedy proposed in the Hepburn act.
:==...:--==-----==---==---.-----------
THE NEGROES AND THE RAILWAYS
Apropos of complaints filed with the
Interstate Commerce Commission BY
five colored bishops The Times-Dis.
patch suggested in recent issue tha'
these respectable negroes were unrea-
sonable in complaining Of Objectionable
members OF their own race, and In
intimating that they should not DE
compelled to ride III the car with them.
These remarks attracted the attention
of the ever alert New York Times
which comments upon them as follows:
All this has a highly plausible sound,
and the Jim Crow car despite the
difficulty OF making it harmonize with
Theoretical equality before the law,
does seem to be n necessity OF SOUTH
ern travel One vaguely glimpses in
the argument, however an element OF
the disingenuous and tho sophisticaL
Tt lies, perhaps, in the fact that though
take prompt action against one OF their
number who grossly misbehaved, ms u
rnIc they expect the RAILWAY employees
to do the policing of their cars, and
the expectation is not disappointed
What the negro bishops really complain
of presumably-at least what 1T would
be reasonable for them to complain
offs their failure to get the same
protection from the disreputables of
their race that the white man does
from those OF his"
The Times is correct in its hypothesis
that the colored passenger having paid
the same fare as the white passenger,
is entitled to the same protection"
It's point Is sufficiently met, however,
with the assertion that. so far as tho
efforts of the authorities go, the
colored passenger gets 1t. In "po-
Icing and disciplinary work from the
conductor and brakeman. the Jim Grow
car not merely gets the Same" at
tention as tho white car, but Infinitely
more. Tho fact that much moro OF
such attention with the negro brings
far less results in order and decorun
is precisely the crux of the situation
If editors whose opinion of the
colored traveller has been formulated
upon the ponderous and specialized In
dividual they have occasionally seen
in the Pullman cars should stand, for
once, in Southern railroad station
and see negro Excursion" go
through, they could undoubtedly ap-
proach these matters with a clearer
vision.
The obvious enough fact is that the
standard of conduct is much lower
in the black race than in the white
and that it. Is absurd to expect the
railway employees to put new face
upon. or even appreciably to temper
that stark truth. The five bishop!
complain OF contact with negroes wht
.ssmoke. drink and curse in the pres
ence of women The type which the!
refer to is, unhappily, only too famiiia
In this part OF the world Self-confi
! dent and coarse in manners, charac
: teristically eager to attract attentio
: to himself already flushed with drin
r and equipped with a flask for the fur
j Their stimulation of his wilt, he board
: the train as one on lark, frankly re
I solved to make a great deal of nois
and have a good tiMe-synonymou
terms in his vocabulary. On the trai
c he meets friends of congenial tempera
: ment and similar frame of mind. Lei
: free by the fatal lack OF public opir
5 ion In their race, they fal! to with
will. The Times is assured that thes
y rowdies get their full share of offici
attention. They give, often, far moi
/ trouble than their first-class fare
are worth They are tolerated, VI
less they break into open disorde
because a railway car is not, primaril
:, a school of manners, and because Il
:. negro has taught the white man n
! to eXpect very much in the way
behavior from him. This conditic
). is not the conductors fault, any mo
% than It Is the New York Times's.
y is the fault of racial code Will
N places no forfeit upon misconduct, a
% contemplates no ostracism for a.
he depth of wrongdoing.
10. The discipline of the black rowe
nd like the final uplift of the black ra
a, must come from within, not witho
s. We repeat that the part of the bisho
nd who should be the negroes natul
leaders in his promised emancipatit
gs should be not to draw their skirts asl
n- from il-mannered members of tn
IN, race and seek to withdraw to VIII
company. but rather to strive w
I'd such strength as is in them "to {
10; velop public sentiment among Il
On race which will make such disort
Impossible"
nvl
las HOW IT FEELS TO DIE.
!. Evidence continues to offer that
,onl final naNtinp Of soul and hOdy has +