davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-07-08

of the white man who saw his job endsn-
gered BY these citizens who had as good a
right TO it if they could make good as he
had?
There was no other cause for the brutal
ity, none put forward and none that can
be put forward.
Likewise the Montgomery, Ala, "Ad-
vertiser" finds that had they been as toll
Grant Of negro labor as the white people
of the South usually are, not negro
would have been killed, not house burned
and no stain have fallen upon the fairly
good name of Illinois"
"The Cincinnati Enquirer" lashes the
Illinois city for its savage treatment OF
the wanderer. 1t says:
The negro has been moving out Of the
South in droyes for more than year past.
East ST. Louis has probably been invaded
nc more greatly than scores of other cities,
and the problems presented in the Illinois
city are not different from those confront
ing other cities. The coming Of the negro
and what to do with him is commanding
the most serious thought of the North.
The problem is going 20 require patience
and tact. and it may require years to solve.
The twilight people, as Beecher used 70
call them. are for the greater part I'M
tutored, and like children, they are rush
ing into a Canaan Of high wages and easy
living. Disillusonment awaits most OF
them. and the rigors of Northern winters,
70 which they are unaccustomed, IS likely
to play havoc with their health and physi-
cal constitution. Just as unaccountably
as thew set forth for the promised land
of milk and honey TO the North, they may
in wear or two drift back to the soft
breezes Of Dixie Land.
East St. Louis has made horrible blum
der. a mistake that will leave a livid scar.
The handling of this great puzzle must be
loft 10 reason and 20 time. he defiance
and desecration Of law is never justified,
and certainly in this instance cannot be
condemned too vigorously.
Not all the Southern papers, however,
are blind to the South's share Of blame.
Witness 1.-The Houston Post" which
has said recently Of the negro exodus;
In the towns and cities the negroes are
dissatisfied with their living conditions.
They are not disturbed about politics or
social equality, but the lnsahltary suFtou'iu
ings amid which circumstances compel
them 10 exist are unsatisfactory, and the
white people owe it TO their own welfare
to improve those conditions
Even worse conditions obtain on many OF
the plantations. and added 70 all Of the
drawbacks common to the towns and cities
is the other fact that the rural schools for
negro children where they exist at all are
a joke.
Another cause Of negro discomfort lies in
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-07-08
Politicians Protected Negro
In Lawless Activities

The investigation which will be inevita-
bic, as investigations are, will probably
never name the politician. But he must
bear heavy burden of moral responsible
ity for Monday nights massacre. The
politician has catered to the negroes, paid
them money for their votes and protected
lawless saloons and dives and gambling
houses conducted by negro leaders.
The obvious happened. Negroes who
were otherwise honest and law-abiding
succumbed to the seduction Of the politi-
clans offer, which represented the line Of
least resistance. Other negroes, lawless
ones, came to East st. Louis to take ad-
vantage of the conditions favorable to
them there.
Certain elements among the negroes
reached the conclusion that they were
privileged characters. They openly vio-
lated the laws of the city and they man
aged to evade any restraint on them.
White men were robbed by negro women
and the thieves were not punished. In
numberless cases the victims instead OF
the thieves we're arrested.
Things went from bad to worse. Minor
violations of the law were succeeded by
greater depredations. Negroes, armed
with revovers, clubs and knives, invaded
the white sections of the city and robbed
representative citizens. In many cases
shootings or beatings were meted out to
the victims when they did not have loot
enough to satisfy the negroes.
To the protests of the citizens against
the lax methods of officialdom's dealing
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-07-08

competition with It's est;
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-07-08
NEGRO EXODUS
FROM SOUTH LAID
TO OPPRESSION

"The negro has come north to stay. The
economic pull in the North plus oppres-
sion in the South, coming simultaneously,
are responsible for this great exodus Of
negro labor into the Northern States. 1t
is good for the colored people themselves,
and good for the South, which has been
overburdened with cheap labor"
This was the opinion expressed yester-
Gay by James Weldon Johnson, acting sec
rotary of the National Association for Ad-
vancement of Colored People, who has just
returned from trip through the South,
investigating the social features of the
conditions which made the northward mi
grafton possible. Mr.. Johnson was in East
St. Louis few days before the rioting &C.
Cured and even then, he said, trouble was
brewing, much of it being precipitated by
officials of the town who gave vent to anti
negro utterances.
There is no mystery about this migra-
ton" said Mr.. johnson. Its causes are
simple and very human, and the low wage
paid to ngroes in the South has less to
do with it than any other reason The
constant oppression and discrimination
against the negroes everywhere in the
South are what forced them to respond
eagerly to the economic call northward."
Mr.. Johnson said he felt confident that
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-07-08
Skilled Artisans
Migrating North

Mr.. Johnson said the better class OF ne
gro was moving northward, including
highly skilled artisans, ard that the move
r1ent was the most important in the his
tory of the race since the adoption Of the
Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments.
IF the movement keeps up, and believe
it WILL" said Mr.. Johnson, I'VE will have
from 100000 TO 100000 voters in the
Northern States within two years. The
negro will then ask for things and VIII not
have 70 beg favors from the Congress. He
will then have lever 70 press his rights.
mo doubt there viii be local and
temporary friction in communities where
the negro laborers settle, but it will not
last. On the whole, the movement will do
the South good. It will tighten up the
tension Of the feeling felt by the whites
as well as the negroes. Already the South
ern newspapers are speaking strongly for
giving the negro fair play. The South
will awaken to the fac. that II it wants TO
keep the negro it must eliminate discrimi-
nation and oppression.
"Some years ago the Pennsylvania Rail-
road sent agents throughout the South in
search of negro labor. The laborers had
about two days to make Up their minds;
consequently only the shiftless, indolent
class, eager for a free trip North, re
sponded, and the railroad company eventu-
ally expressed dissatisfaction.
at is different class that is coming
North now. 1t is the thinking, deliberat-
ing, industrious class that have had the
way paved for them and jobs already pre-
pared by friends and relatives, the pi-
oneers who went on before
Mr.. Johnson said that something would
undoubtedly be done by the negro leaders
and the negroes themselves TO prevent any
serious clash between cClored workmen
and the great labor union organizations.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-07-08
rnmity of Capital to Union Labor and Importation
Of Blacks to Break Strikes and Preserve Open
Shop Are Said to Have Been at Root of
East St. Louis Race Riots

over. 1t would be truce, but not a peace
To-day an exodus of negroes from East
st. Louis, and even from the outlying dis
trict near by, is pouring thousands of
blacks into st. Louis, where the municipal
authorities and the Red Cross are taking
care of them.
The universal dangers were aggravated
by local conditions in East st. Louis. For
years there has been a struggle between
capital and labor Of a peculiar nature.
The city is composed almost solely of poor
men. There are few big men and no
wealthy ones. The big industries located
in the city are controlled by outside CAPT
tai. Many of them are only parts of
gigantic combinations of moneyed inter-
ests Of the country.
The result is an indifference on the part
of capital to the laboring interests. The
heads Of the big industries have looked
with disfavor on all attempts Of the labor
leaders Of East st. Louis to organize the
men employed there. For years the big
industries have successfully resisted the
efforts of the labor chiefs. Numerous
strikes have been the result.
Out of this situation arose the possibil-
ity for the politicians to make fine capital.
1t did not take this element long to learn
of the negroes political utility. The black
man has been a citizen of East st. Louis
almost since the city was founded. He did
not prove inherently vicious or inimical
to the best interests Of the city. He knew
his place and lived in peace among his
white neighbors.
Then came the politicians realization Of
his political value. Inscriptions white
men discovered that if one controlled the
negro vote of East st. Louis he might con-
troll the city. The black population was
the balance of power, for the whites were
so evenly divided on most questions that
by throwing the negro votes into the
scales a certain faction could win any
struggle at the polls.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-07-08
Southern Press Mystihed
At Exodus of the Negro

In its comment on the situation most
of the Southern papers profess mystifica-
ton at the exodus of the black man. lg-
noring the Jim Crow laws, the low wages,
the squalid negro quarters and the civil
and political disabilities, it still declares
that the black man will find his best friend
below the Mason and Dixon line. South
ern newspapers look now upon the negro
as the child of the South, as vlctlm OF
cruel and cold Northern comrnerclallsnl'
and recommend that his wisest course IS
to return to the South, where ne Is not
merely needed, but understood. There Is
in fact. something of sentimentalism IN
the gentle eye which the South now turns
upon the negro. o
"Racial prejudices," declares 1.-THE
Memphis Commercial Appeal" "are more
violent in the North than in the South
1t says:
The Southern man recognizes the right
Of the negro 70 life, liberty and property
In tho matter of property the Southern
white man recognizes the right OF the
nagro 10 labor in whatsoever calling ne
wishes. In the North when the negro be-
Gins 10 be a competitor in labor he IS
fought through the instrument of racial
hatred. and when this hatred is aroused
il is blind as to individuals
There has been an exodus Of negroes 70
the North for two years. Many were at
tracted by temporary high wages. others
went North because they fancied there were
certain privileges they would enjoy IN the
North that they did not enjoy in the South
But when they got North they found out
that the enjoyment of these privileges gave
no substantial comfort.
The negro belongs in the South, and for
his own good he ought to stay here. The
Southerner will not stand for him being
shot to pieces just because he happens TO
be black.
If the negro behaves himself his days in
the South will not be marred by much
trouble.
The problem for the negro in the South
has been difficult during the last two years
The cost Of living has been exceedingly
high. and in some cases the wages Of the
negroes have not been advanced as they
should have been. And in other places in
the South the negro has not had the benefit
of an even break in the division of returns
on the cotton crop.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-07-08
Families in Haste
Leave Animals

while inquiring into the conditions that
drove the negro out Of Florida" he con-
tinued, Il found that quite few families
had packed up their belongings and got
away in such hurry that they did not
even try to sell their domestic animals on
the farms, but left them roaming about
uncared for and unfed.
Constant oppression, coupled with the
terror that is bred Of lynchings, is more
than sufficient to drive the negro out
of the South. Discrimination is omni-
present, and it is only natural for any one
to leave place where he is regarded as in
terror and often put upon . par with
beasts.
when announcing the plans and speci-
fcations for the new union railroad station
at jacksonville IL was stated that there
would be separate entrances at the side for
negroes so that the whites would not come
in contact with the blacks The blacks
are good enough TO be servants in the
household; good enough 70 prepare the
white mans food and fondle and care for
his babies, yet side doors we're provided
in the big railway terminal To avoid con-
tact with the blacks.
"The unequal distribution Of school
funds is another discrimination that is
decidedly unfair. In some states the negro
child has only one-tenth Of the educational
privileges Of the white child. Then, too,
the colored people are forever the object
Of police persecution. This is true Of
New York City, and something terrible is
going 10 happen right in this town one Of
these days if police persecution is not
abated."
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-07-08
NEGRO PROBLEM HAS COME NORTH RIOTS SHOW
Southern Press Expresses Mystification at Out
break in North and Declares That the Negro
Would Be Far Better Off if He Re- :.
NAMED in the South

the widely prevalent and largely justified
belief among the negroes that there is one
law for the white man and another law for
the negro. The instances in the court rec
ords Of the state which prove this 10 be
true are too numerous to De recited here.
"The Savannah Morning News" said
What is to be done? Must We resort 70
coerciye measures of one kind or another
measures which at best will avail only 10
defer the negro's departure, while lncreas-
ing instead OF lessening the spirit or DIS
content which is driving him 70 other parts
of the country? Would il not be the part
Of reason to look about US and find out why
the negro is so fixed in mis- determination
to 90 elsewhere instead Of arbitrarily seek
ing to stay his departure or to Brighten
him into staying by picturing to him the
disadvantages of the life he will have 70
live in the North? II the negro is discon-
tented in the South there is undoubtedly
a reason for his discontentment. This
reason may be partly fancied, but it can
not be wholly so; a race Of people does
not break every natural tie and go into
strange Iands because OF an eHtiEeIy laHCieu
grievance.
Consider the matter selfshly or altru-
isticaly, as you please, there is no escape
from the conclusion that the obligation to
understand the Negroes viewpoint is resting
upon the best white people OF the South
heavily, or that this obligation is OF the
most pressing immediacy
In st. Louis itself ''The Republic" de-
votes its attention editorially to the NAL
administration of the Illinois forces of law
and order rather than to the trouble itself,
Ealing for a Federal inquiry and punish
ment Of those responsible for the laxity
which permitted the massacre. But it is
The Chicago Tribune" long the source
Of bitter criticism Of the South for its
continued lynching Of the negro, that
flames most hotly against the riots.
The Tribune" says:
1--WE do not propose TO talk now about
race hatred or economic rivalry or any
other learned aspect of the offence. There
is just one truth, one sickening, shameful
truth: In an American city, in city Of
Illinois, there has been loathsome eryp-
ton Of the brute, and neither civilized
public sentiment nor constituted authority
was capable of arresting it."
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-07-08

President Wilson could do much 10 har-
monte the situation in the North as well
as the South if he would only speak the
word.
Eve negroes who have the general in
terest of the race at heart" he said, have
looked for him to speak, but he has thus
far remained silent. He has said much
against the outrages heaped upon the Bel
gians, the Serbians and the Armenians,
but not one word has he spoken for hui
mainly in so far as it pertains 20 the colored
people of America. We hear much about
making the world safe for democracy. I
think it is about time that something was
said or done to make the United States fit
for democracy.
Zone word from Mr.. Wilson would carry
tremendous weight. He has spoken words
Of deepest sympathy for persons who have
suffered, but he has failed to say one word
in our defence. and has not thrown out a
single ray of hope to the loyal black citi-
zens of this country since he has been
President. One stray word from him
would do more to check violence against
the negro than any other force in the
country"
One Of the striking features Of the
eagerness of the negro TO get away from
oppression and rush to the beck Of North
ern labor came to the attention Of Mr..
Johnson recently while travelling through
Florida.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-07-08
Riots Are Attributed
To Course of Color"

"The Louisville Herald" remarking
finally that they have taught him that
his place is in the South" points to the
color of the negro as the cause Of his
troubles in the North.
Not in Georgia-we desire particularly
10 call the attention of "The Chicago
Tribune" to this-Chicago, likewise, is in
Illinois-not in Alabama, not in the BLACK
Belt" did this race war run course
checked only when the bloodstained, mur-
derous rabble was satiated and exhausted
and its quarry huddled in cellars or in
public buildings protected by soldiery
with orders not to shoot.
What was the crime Of these negroes?
What had they done that, Of a sudden an
indscriminate hell should be let loose
upon them; that-without regard TO age
or sex-they should be bounded and
driven, tortured and done to death, their
homes wrecked, their belongings, them
selves burned in the shelter. the treach-
erous shelter, they had sought?
What was the curse but the curse OF
color?
What the fanaticism but the fanaticism
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-07-08
Vae'al East St. Louis
7iempts TO Evsde issue

%" -. Louis murdered almost a half
..h.'ed Of her inhabitants. beat and tor
80 several hundred more, and wantonly
ny O'''"iS III P'oP-
- -" 'arial East 81. Louis remains al
ps''ive. To-day she il attempting
s'ses the issue.
., pan.'hmen, Of the guilty aod the
=. ''''n 70 ~. negroes Of their homes
"'P.fty destroyed BY the mob's VIC.
80. nay never be contaminated unless
g.. agencies step in. and even II the
x,o. n we're vigorously probed. the
IL . I'hished and the sufferers indemni-
We difficulty would only be smoothed
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-07-08

NECONOMIC vacuum produced by
\ the World War IS pulling the
n American negro problem north.
-. Fast st. Louis massacre was not an
..,.,s6 or endemic thing. 1t was an omi-
=. ERUPTION Of racial and social antag-
Co.. which have been and are still gath
ing under the surfaces in scores Of
r,rbern communities.
:, seeking to reach the basic factors
. ,hs situation. minor symptoms may
si,v be disregarded. 1t it be granted
-, N. negro is likely to abuse the
~....r freedom Of the North, that in
IS, 81. Louis the authorities were nei-
49, sufficiently vigorous in keeping them
chin bounds before the rioting began
=, in protecting them afterward-the
fundamental dangers remain the same,
"a no policing can remove them wherever
4, black influx has gathered.
The trouble North and South-as al
vsys when two races are mixed on the
une soils a blend of racial strife and
Industrial competition or exploitation.
II. South, which cannot live indus
rsTy without the negro, has made too
H-le effort to give him adequate wages or
decent living conditions, though it does, in
rneral, assure physical safety except in
cases Of vicious crime.
The North, which is turning to the
negro to supply the place of the cheap
European labor cut off by the war, knows
neither how to absorb him into its indus
trial system, how TO deal with his peculiar
wees, nor how TO control the passions
which are caused by his appearance in
competition with its established labor.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-07-08
Definite Attempts Made
To Bring Negro North

The movement Of the negro which mas
made the South so uneasy and which has
created such conditions as exist in East
s. Louis began over a year ago. There is
some disposition on the part Of employers
70 deny that any overtures were made to
Southern negroes to get them to move
North and 10 point to the financial pros
perty Of the negro in the North as quite
sufficient inducement for their Southern
truthers to seek a better living. But there
L no doubt that definite attempts were
made to use the Southern negro as a cheap
labor commodity.
The first negro movement which at
trscted attention in East st. Louis was
when eight hundred blacks went there
Smething more than a year ago to take
tie place Of strikers in the packing plants.
East St. Louis is largely an industrial
community, with a population Of about
sxty thousand. About Is per cent, before
the strike, were negroes. Most Of the Chi
ago packers have plants there which en-
Foy altogether from FIVE to seven thousand
persons. A large aluminium plant employs
ihree thousand.
By the time The first riot came this
Tring three thousand negroes had been
Nded to the population Of the city. When
ne packing house strikes ceased, negroes
z many cases continued TO hold their
p.sees. Factory managers declare that
ne riots were not due TO a shortage Of
Aoor demand. Nevertheless, the city has
bad large idle population, and one result
lit has been a good deal Of petty thiev-
~ and lawlessness Of various kinds.
Trouble first definitely appeared in May
shsn several industrial plants were closed
y strikes. White laboring men were I'M
I's 70 unionize the negro. In most cases
ae negro made il possible for the manu-
'ae'arer % maintain an open shop. In
q May riots six men were killed, the
,Aita was called out, and after an appar-
'iei@pse o. the population INTO quiet tne
'1s guard was sent back home.
cut the labor leaders went before the
W Council and demanded that the city
ar end % the Rration Of the negro
no the city. Il was the investigation
.hca followed, under the direction Of an
AMOS state commission, which directly
i'Nipiia'ed the riots The report Of the
Nn''niss.on was made public last Saturday
''' Il stated clearly that labor agents had
'Sh Bringing the negro North. The ne
s''sa' Tearing trouble, organized in their
,-&''er o. The city. A squad Of patrolmen
.' p scatter them was fred upon, some
's D.led and The riots we're on.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-07-08

The negroes in the North should com.
back home, ana wnen they are back and
obey the law It should be the duty Of the
white men to see that they are not de-
frauded that they are decently paid for
we'll done work and that life be made safs
for those who try to do right, seek to obey
the law and try TO make themselves useful
citizens.
And this is the comment Of "The At
lanta Constitution published in a city
which has a long record of race riots:
Yet our friends of the North continually
are harping that we of the South are IN
able TO cope with the negro problem. 1t
is their habit TO tell Us that we do not
know how to deal with the negro prob
lem but that they do
Is this East ST. Louis atrocity demon
stration of the war? Is this an illustration
of the North's method of solving the prob
lem?
If il is, then we must confess that our
Northern advisers are right and that we
are wrong, for certainly we of the South
never have tried that method-and, please
God, we never shall!
We hear much Of the so-called "consti-
tutional rights" Of the colored man, from
the Northern viewpoint, but the constitu-
tional guarantee TO every man, white or
black, of the fundamental right 10 earn
his living in the sweat of his brow-as it
is and always has been vouchsafed to the
negro in the South-seems 70 have been
entirely overlooked.
As to those colored folk who have es-
capped with their lives, they had better
come back home where they were well OF.