The Covington leader. (Covington, Tenn.) 18??-current, 1917-07-12
UNsCRUPULOUs POLITICIANS
ARE BLAMED FOR RACE RIOTS


Why did East 81. Louis murder up
wards Of 100 Of her inhabitants, beat
and torture hundreds Of others and
wantonly destroy half a million dollars
in property?
While the people Of the United
States are awaiting aTixiOusly the
answer to the above question, East st.
Louis remains almost passive. Today
she is attempting to evade the issue.
Unless outside sources step in and go
to the bottom Of Monday nights orgy
Of blood, there is chance that no
steps win be taken to punish the
guilty parties.
Why doesn't East st. Louis want
to take any action? Because she is
East st. Louis. Even today this city,
which is accursed by the sin of poll
tics in its worst forms, is playing
politics with one of the most wicked
crimes in the history Of the nations.
The forces that have been struggling
for supremacy in this city in the past
are today attempting to make capital
out of the wholesale staying of whites
and blacks and the destruction of half
a million dollars in property.
Capital and Labor
Before one can attempt to explain
East st. Louis attitude in this crisis,
he must know East st. Louis. AL
though she is the second city in the
state of Illinois in population, East
st. Louis is not the second city Of
Illinois. She has been held back by
the most vicious of political combines.
The common people have been OPP
pressed while the favored ones have
"got by. AS a result the middle and
lower classes of the inhabitants have
engendered bitter hatred for the fore
es that are arrayed against them.
For years there has been a constant
struggle in East st. Louis between
capital and labor. The city is COM
posed almost solely Of poor men. She
has few big men and no real wealthy
ones. The big industries located in
the city are controlled by outside cap
ital. Many of them are parts of gi-
gantic combinations Of money inter-
ests of the country.
The heads of these big industries
have looked with disfavor on all at
tempts of the labor leaders of East
st. Louis to organize the men en-
ployed by them. There has been an
almost endless fight for theupper hand
between these two classes. For years
the big industries successfully resist
ed the efforts of the labor chiefs. Nu-
merous strikes have been the result.
Politicians Started 1t
The negro is not new to East st.
Louis. He has been in the city almost
since the place was founded. For
years he lived in peace among his
white neighbors. He knew his place.
There was no cause for dissatisfaction
on the part of either race.
Then came the change. Unscrupu-
lous white politicians discovered that
If one controlled the negro vote of
East st. Louis he would control the
city. The black population was the
balance Of power The whites were
SO evenly divided on most questions
that by throwing the negro vote into
any struggle at the polls.
1t is this accursed sin of politics
that has been responsible for the
primary causes Of Monday nights
massacre. No one is to blame but
the politicians. They catered to the
negroes, paid them money for their
votes, protected lawless saloons and
gambling houses conducted by negro
leaders.
This special treatment had its eff
feet. Certain elements among the
negroes reached the conclusion that
they were privileged characters. They
openly violated the laws of the city,
and they got away with it. White
men were robbed by negro women
and the thieves were not punished.
In numberless cases the victims were
the ones arrested.
Accused Labor Leaders
Things went from bad to worse. Not
stopping at minor violations of the
moral laws, some ofthe negroes went
still farther. Armed with revolvers,
clubs and knives, they invaded the
white sections Of the city and robbed
representatives citizens. In many
cases victims Of these highwaymen
were shot or beaten because they did
not have loot enough to satisfy the
blacks.
Gradually conditions grew worse.
The people Of the city began to make
protests, but no real effort was made
to better conditions. Then came the
race riot Of the week Of May %. And
even this did not awaken the city to
the danger that was at hand.
Immediately the heads of the big
industries accused the leaders among
the union men Of being responsible for
the trouble. The labor men replied by
saying that the factory heads brought
the negroes to East st. Louis to use in
whipping the white workers into line.
The State of Illinois awoke long
enough to send the Labor committee
of the State Defense council to East
st. Louis to conduct an investigation
into the causes leading to those riots.
The investigation accomplished moth
ing.-David f. Barrett, Representa-
tive of the st. Louis Times in East