The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-05-01
LOUISIGNG'S RACE PROBLEM
DECISION TBAT AFFECTS MANY
LAWS ABOUT NEGROES.


snAems Court by a vote Of tares 20 two
haa. sustained the decision Of judge
Chretien in the Trsadway oOnouhinAgo
case. declaring that the Law which for
bida alliances between whites and negroes
FuFsrs only 10 persons % pure and unadul-
.sated negro blood. and not 10 mulattOea,
uuahroOna. Griiss aud others OF miHed
white and black blood. The dafondants
In the case we're Octave Treadway,a pure
Caurasian. and Josephine Lighted. an
octoroo0. ssvsn-ei ghths white. One-etGhth
uaaro. The anti -oonoublnagO Law h thus
90 weakened a. 20 he practically Of no
eject
The decision Of TIE Supreme Court
has far reaching cOnseQuenccS ta
arst eject will 10 - turn lCoss al! Eseranna
hitherto convicted 81 violations Of thia
law and 20 diarniss all indictments against
offenders. The law has been In operation
slightly over q year and has been ap
proved not by the whites alone but By
the marcos a. we'll One Of the effects
Of The statute has bsen to prove that the
extent Of miscegenation ls and has been
exaggerated.
The effects OF the decision do not
utop with the practical abrogatiOn Of tho
apeoial Law concerned. Il has given
q Ehaamng 10 the word negro which
aheCts many other statutes OF the state,
Among tSe laws which may be affected
BY u are thOao which prohibit the Inter
maFFlaEs Of the races and provide Tor
their eeparation on the railroads. street
cars, steamboats, saloons, hotels. theatres
and other public places, The avowed
policy Of the louisiana Legislature Tor
yoara has been the settlement Of the race
problem by segregation, by separation
OF whitea aud negroes, 40 a. 70 prevent
racial bitterness Under this recent
decision the negro enjoys great many
pFtVilsEos in Louisiana which he has
not possessed Tor years.
WIN he attempt 10 exercise them'
Tho general belief is that the grsat ma
FORTY OF the negroes will not; that they
have accepted aud possibly in many
cases favor the segregation policy. hut
there may be few Of the self-assertive
type Who will think this a favorable OPP
pqFtunity 10 force themselves whore they
have never been before Such an at
tempt on their part will almost inevitably
cause trouble.
The deoision restS with the general
principle that a negro 10 a person Of pure
African blood whereas the word 'colOred'
IL broader and includes both pure negroes
and tkqsa % MIXED blood. The court
holds ths LEGISLATURE 90 Name for having
failed 20 On what was done In North
Carolina end other States 10 define and
intsrhras the word Negro Intheas ether
states TIE dividing line was arbitrarily
fixed a. une-eighth and One-sixtsonth u
negro blood. that IN a person seven
sRhtha white and One-ulghth negro.
commonly known AZ an OctoFoon, 10 .
negro. bat the child u this Ootoroon by
q white parent. thai is = peSon one
ixtepnth negro and ffteen-siEtesnths
white. IL a Caucasian There hiss heen
m leEal line drawn in Louisiana. and
popularly ths word -RegrO' can be applied
70 a usEson with any negro blood In his
veins. h0&sveF alight the amount.
Ths lihEnriann ana leNbcosraphsrs
renarnly ~ not agree with the ruling
Of 10 ruFlrt Thsy declare that the
word -uo116- means We race anQ that
mgiaitpcs' an9droee1' snd ooio .'S a.. are
Thus TOO e the popular acceptance Of
prohahle explanation az the decision
IA fOunus In ths bld French or creole prac- l
tioe 81 ceiling q negrn -nagrs and persons
OF miSsa tlood sh0mme' or femme dc !
coulslr." Among thecrecles q Louisiana
this distinction j. prasorvet. a. Il y
In tho Mest Indies where the population Il !
dividsd BIZ the census into whites, colored I
and nsRrons u = nntsd that the Origi- I
ma d.,oiHfun declaring that q negro is = l'sT- /
500 a pure unmiKrd African blCOd was .
rnnderrd ~ Judge ilirAtien, a Cr,sol9 20 81. I
NartinrrilIa Whers The relations between .
the rtata hate always been harmonious I
ana wherp ne distinction between Negro /
and 'hoGasn6 ~ oOnleur' has always been I
maiutnined. Again the two judges Of
the louiEiana Supreme Court Of Franch /
origin. Chief Jnstice BrenuH and Asso- I
cate Justice Pruvusty. supported tbs I
Chretlen decision. while ~ the three .
Justices 10 Ang'O-SuNun or American /
descent Two Just lcez ] and and NICHOLS. .
from the country par shes. disseuted from .
the opiniuu The remaining Justice. I
Monroe 10 from New Orleans whore the .
distinction bCtwsen negro and man u .
color was maintained 10y tho large creole |
pobtiinti0n " the city
The court maintains that while the /
word -colored' Includes negro and that a |
narro - necessarily % colorsd person, |
the reverse " not the cnse and a oolored |
parnnn OF mixed blood IL not a negro |
Ii cites in support ~ the decision some |
attebellum rulings o. the Louisiana |
supreme Court notably the famous /
Beauregard Case. IN which the somewhat |
CURIOUS doctrine was laid down by Chief
Jurfics Martin that the presumption Of
law in the case Of a negro, a person OF
utIre African blood was that he was a
Save, and the burden % proof therefore |
rested on him 10 show that he was free, |
while in the CASE Of a colored person. that |
"A 4 person Of mixed blood. the presump- /
ton was OF freedom. and the burden Of
proof rested on the person who claimed /
The colored man az hey slave property.
The Judge also cited Louisiana literature |
add called attention 20 the fact that Ia |
the histories and stories Of louisiana |
the word negro was nsvoT uaed - APP /
Dltcahla 70 an octoroon or person OF /
nlitsd blood Finally attention was called /
n thR fact that tho anti-concuhinags |
statute a. originally framed for the /
IsRislaturs forbade union bstWeon a
psrson Of tho white or Caucasian raOs
and a person oi 0ne-thirti8th or more i
negro blood. This Specialization Of one
thiftieth on moro negro blood vas stricken
from the statute % A. 10 leave Il vague |
and uncertain.
The iaW has had a curious history. Il
mas the support OF practically all DoRrooa
as we'll ~ whites. but after thirty yeaFa
effort 20 placs it on the statute book Il
stin remains Of no practical value. Al
s6ssi0n after session u tho Legislature
che proposition has come up. but only
b. fail % passage nystsFiOiisly, 20 W5f i
nawH IN frfa1TIryrffff.1 nw "a - uatefata