New-York tribune., 1917-07-19
Labor, Not Race, Rio..
Only Economic Justice Can r,,e
St. Louis Trouble.
To the Editor Of The Tr;h,n.

.
Sir: Will you kindly allow m. >.
what seems to be wrong impr..;,s" "f'sa
people in the East have reeeiv.a hes
the so-called race riots in Ea,, 9, s,,ses
Whenever | say that I com. from :. -'si
] meet with the remark, ~oh, ST. T. t'
wouldn't want to come from a cl,, % y,
still allows race riots to occur,s ''t
In the first place, St. Louis /, ,;,u.
the west side of the Mississippi R,,.. =
is in the State Of Missouri, whils W. y
Louis is just across the river, on y. Z
side, and belongs to the Stat. =, ~ ~, az
In the second place, let It bs n'a ~nsa
understood, although negroe, h,..
killed and wounded by whites, and o.. '@
these are not race riots. as wb.r. !, sas
vidual takes the law into his own ~. "e
Furnishes another individual guilty os :. |"
but black and white against black Ne'
the awful industrial conditions du, !, =
portation of black labor from Ii. Saul o.
Although the capitalist has mad. =,
making millions of dollars of prof, M...
the laborer, he is not satisfied. and !.
trying to increase the per cent OF ma"
every one knows, by incress. Of pri,.. =
decrease of cost of labor to as low !"
rs possible. Every one know, .l,o ,,@. IN
capitalist and employer, not cont.n, -, =
Producing female and child labor 49,.
is cheaper, took another step BY .xnlo;,.s
and importation of foreign labor N,
Of labor agencies); then still anotbs, 4, "
porting black labor from the souh
have heard rumors of Chinese eooli.. 80
smuggled into the United States c,s
coolies are not famed for the high uri.. -
labor they demand, and are sa.i,s., |
lower wages than the negroes. Ifv.I,m
cans will think hard we will r.menh.. ~.
not so very long ago we put up a ,.is ~ -
In Washington for an immigration A..
eracy law excluding foreigners, and n, = .
the very same thing that Is happ.,,..
East st. Louis, except it is black ana 80
against black, and in our recent sgh, q
only white against white-no colors irvsA.I
The Living Conditions
II you could only see the condls,,,
which these laborers live, black and ,.s'
ignorant, illiterate, the majority OF, ,hsv.s.
being Slavs and Poles; in the poore,, s.s
est, barely furnished frame shack, |, b.
fiat country full of small lakes, whl,. .,
easily flooded during the rainy season, Va,
would not wonder why such condition, ,,r
but, rather, how can these people exi,, n,
they don't live), and you would then u,tr.
stand why they have at last decided to Nh
against the importation Of black lsbc, IS.
Ply because of the animal desire 10 liz. :.
stead Of that, We condemn them for c.r,,,
race riots. No one dreams Of blaming svs
g. Co. and the Armour Packing Compsry =
any other corporation or capitalist fsv
nre laughing up their sleeves and ra,l,,
millions Of dollars at the same time IN ,str,
advantage of the laborers' Ignorance All
although they do rebel, these poor cr.i.srs
| do not realize that they themselves ms. \
their own saviors. Only by educate. q.
organization will they secure their sr
rights, which, after all, are really to n
allowed to live and work and be paid ,n hr.
est wage for what they earn.
The trouble in East st. Louis really ~
this: that some negroes, filed up with yhIs
/ key, refused to be arrested for dsisisrs
the peace and shot at the polissnn VA
tried to arrest them, and in the sxeIpns.
and chase resulting therefrom irnoesr, b.
standers were killed and wounded. Ahssti
the militia was called, they really did rsi.-
! ing, for the trouble had been caused By E-s
thing more serious than drunken negroes ~.
cheap whiskey.
My views may sound socialistic, bit 10
not a socialist. | believe in fair play a.!
| justice to all, white, black or BROW. Is
our hearts most of US do look down u'i
the negro. Not content with his being !0a
! years behind us in civilization I'VE are enf
lied, we white people, aren't we, VIE w
and murder going on everywhereD, wea1
| TO treat the black man as well as we % ~
white. We build good, sufficient schools ="
him and allow him to study and lean
decent trade or profession lin one oS v
1000 instances, at the same time fu~''
every possible obstacle in his way and 'Mf
ing him more for rent and food and el'ais
and giving him lower wages, and also p''a'!
his every flaw under a microscope, % Wv
the world may see for itself that We v"
right in stating that he is our inferior
In the South
In the South they drive him out VI" ',
wages and disadvantages Of all nhd'
at the same time try to keep him lne"
cause they cannot secure any one e''' -.
will work for lower wages and s''a' :.
more hsrdships.' Really it would 10. n
us one bit if while administering 'n" 49,.
justice to all we were TO add drop -"
medicine called the milk Of human nna-.,s
for although the negro is black ne y s...
of the same dust that We are ana ean' -
and will return TO the very same cara ~,
Permit me in closing TO quote i,9" VII
Mirror" of July 6, 1917, edited by ~, I,
lam Marion Reedy, which gives the l'ss s.sI
more concise form and better thsn .,,.
"The one hope for a cessation OF su'S \,
penings as the East ST. LOUIS rio' !.
realization by the South that me '"
keep the negro where he would p'e'eo. eo...,,ly
is to pay him better for his toll h'' /,
there has been something like p'. 4,
Georgia and other Southern state: ~. \
nrosna.. of a sbor.ace OF negro lspo"