The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1913-01-22
NOVEL "JlM CROW" CASE.

NOVEL "JlM CROW" CASE.
The supreme court of the United
States will soon be called upon to
wrestle with novel "Jim Grow" case,
which comes up from the Mississippi
supreme court. The case illustrates
how far the legislature of state may
go in elevating one race and humil-
iating another. The legislature OF
Mississippi passed law providing
for separating the two races while
travelling upon the same train, and
which provides that separate cars
shall be provided, one for the white
people and the other for the colored
people, and the act is made broad
enough by it's terms to include both
intra- state and interstate travel.
The courts of Mississippi have in
terpreted the Jim Crow law OF the
state as applicable to interstate COM
merce as we'll as intra-state travel.
The courts also justify the law on the
ground that it was enacted to pre-
serve order by separating the two
races and that disturbance is likely
to occur upon an interstate train
passing through the state as upon a
local train.
Another construction of the court is
that the law requiring separate &C.
commodations on passenger trains
means that separate pullman cars
must be furnished as we'll as separ'
ate passenger cars.
The facts in the case disclose that
Miss Pearl Morris boarded a train at
Vicksburg, Miss, for New York, and
upon entering the pullman she OBJ
served the presence of three negro
men, and at once demanded separate
accommodations, which were refused,
and hence the suit against the Ala
bama & Vicksburg Railroad company
for damages. The jury awarded Miss
Morris $4,000 damages for distress
of mind and body because OF being
required to occupy berth in a pull
man car in which three negro men oc
cupied berths. From the judgment
rendered by the court upon the YER
dict an appeal was taken to the SUI
preme court of Mississippi, which sus
tanned. the lower court in its inter
pretation of the law, but reduced the
damages to $4,000, and from the
holding of the supreme court of Mis-
sissippi the case has been taken to
the supreme court of the United
States.
From the report of the case it does
not appear that the colored gentle
men in the pullman car were IN any
Eay offensive in their conduct, or 9th
erwise, but it was simply because
these colored people were in the cal
boarded by the young lady which fur
nished the foundation for the suit
which awarded her large damages
The report does not disclose the mum
her of white passengers on the train
but we presume there were Other
white passengers in the car in add
ton to the young lady
1t seems most remarkable that an!
person should seek to recover dam
ages from a railroad company because
of the presence of some person OF
different color riding in the same car
although the conduct of the persons
complained of is above criticism.
1t seems quite as remarkable that
the legislature of any state should en-
act a law discriminating against the
rights of people of different color,
such as the law Of Mississippi and a
number of other southern states have
enacted. Such laws and such treat
ment of colored people is most exas-
perating and must evidently result in
their humiliation and degradation. No
race of people can exist and develop
in free America with such laws in
force.
The damages in this case were
awarded Miss Morris, not because OF
her dignity or exalted character. be-
cause in these respects the negroes
may have been her equal, but they
were awarded simply because she is
what is known as white woman
and her fellow passengers as "colored
people"
We think the young lady should
nave ayailed herself Of her constitu-