The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1908-10-03

Alabama shot a negro upon Penn
sylvania Avenue in Washington. and
within few hours all the country
knew the story But there are some
features of that story which the
North is not likely to know.
Congressman Heflin is a brilliant
young man WAC served his State as
municipal attorney and as legislator
for ten years before being sent to
Congress three years ago. He comes
from the Black Belt" and perforce
holds certain views that he has been
free in expressing.
To begin with; he is certain that
the only way toward any solution or
even any endurance of tie negro prob
lem is to reduce the negro to
caste. To forward this purpose, he
introduced into Congress at the last
session bill to require all negroes
riding upon cars in the District to
occupy separate cars or definitely as
signed rear seats
Next, he saw that in order TO con-
troll the negroes of the District, it was
absolutely essential to keep away
from them all opportunities for con-
suming alcoholic stimu'ants. Con-
sequently, he backed in Congress. and
publicly supported in speeches in
the District, the bill for prohibition
in the capital.
Lastly, it was commonly believed
that he was a supporter of the Till
man bill in the Senate, directed to-
ward removing from the District all
persons without known and reputable
means of support. The purpose of
this bill was to clear out negro va
grants.
All these matters, together with
the details of the shooting were given
out TO the national press. Incidental
ly, it is worth noting that the shot
that struck the negro, Louis Itumly,
hit him upon the side of the head,
hattened there, and slipped around
for several inches between the skin
and skull, and then stuck there. The
bullet was 3S caliber, and was fired
at close range, as the congressman
was leaving the car The man owes
his life to the thickness of his
skull
Sore Unpublished Facts.
But the matters not given out to the
press, or at least only limited at, are
or greater concern The cause for the
introduction of the bill for lin
Grow" cars was by no means mere
imitation of the familiar Southern
legislation. Nor was the congress
man in possession OF heavy revolver
because of a habit of carrying con-
cealed weapons
There are now in the District of Co.
lumbia some hundred and ten thous-
and negroes. about one in three OF
the population. The men and women
are in about equal numbers; but in
the absence of economic opportunity
for the negro men in community
without factories or shops, not one
half OF the men are employed. The
unemployed live upon the earnings of
their wives, mothers, daughters, sis
tiers, sweethearts. mistresses and
worse. In someS instances, granted
that they must live here at all, this
is not altogether their fault. The
negro man can not in Washington,
as in many other Southern cities,
work on equal terms iwth Caucasians
at trade. Many of the labor unions
deny him membership nor is he allow
ed 10 form unions allied with those
OF the whites. The negro. therefore,
is limited Ito such occupations as
domestic service in a population that
fluctuates fifty thousand and more be-
tween January and July-duties as
porter and driver about commercial
establishments, certain minor Govern
ment posts. and mechanical and other
work for his own people, including
medicine, dentistry, law. and surgery
Washington, or the District of Co
lUmbia, now the synonymous term. is
the largest negro community upon the
earth, and has among its negro resi-
dents a group whose average wealth
is greater than is that of any other
group of negroes in the world. There
are three whose wealth is over $780,
10, l. \
capitalists live in special blocks, one
of which is famous as quality row."
On the other side Of fhe social pic
ture there are to be seen tie two hun
dred and eighty-six alleys, in which
are thousands of small Srick and
frame houses in large part owned by
wealthy negroes, and constituting the
Show City's disgrace.
Add one more fact, and the entire
situation becomes clear: In the Dis
trict as, of course, nowhere else in
the country no man votes. and there
fore the black is upon equal political
terms with the white. In conse
quenc, Washington has hcome the
Mecca of negroes of two classes-the
rich. who know that they can live
here in fine houses and invest their
money to advantage, often as silent
or side partners with the whites: and
the poor. who know that, even if the
men of the family can not get work.
the women can, and at good wages.
in the winter season. This latter class
of poor negroes is transient; its mem
bers are going into and out of the
District TO and from Maryland, Vir
ginia, and the Carolinas all the
time.
The "Brights" are Assertive
The Weather and the better edu-
Gated negroes constitute in Wash
ingtOn as permanent a class as the
landownins families of the whites;
and il matters of outward social de-
corum they are often models Many
of them. indeed. are almost white
themselves. They are negroes" be-
cause of class-consciousness. But at
the same time Washington i the great
clearing house for those who would
cross the line" or go to the whites"
or go over TO white" in the fami-
liar phrase. 1t Is useless to go to
white unless the family has a fair