Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1918-01-19

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wards Of the North, rather than do
without the decencics OF life which
they had known in tho South.
DR.. Epstein's detailed information Is
Interesting. Hero it is:
1t appears that more than seventy
five per cent of the Southern mi
grants are between tDo ages Of eigh-
teen and forty. Only ten per cent
OF the SOC people questioned were
under eighteen or past fifty years OF
age. THIS fact is significant, both to
the industrial concerns which are in
need of Il labor supply and to the
community rs whole. For the In
duStrial concerns, it means that
these IN grants are the most desirable
laborers, men ut the height OF their
wealth producing capacity. They sat
isfy the pressing need which has con-
fronted the local manufacturers since
tim foreign supply OF labor was cut
off by the war. From the standpo'n MT
OF the community, it is important to
know that the influx lays few imme-
hl'lc DulhSiiS VUOH INC CITY. ucIS
are few minors to be educated and
few aged or dependent ones likely to
become public charge.
The South, then, has lost not only
tho brain Of the colored folks, but
the Drawn rs we'll. When DR.. Ep-
BtJn states that these colored people
are self-supporting and that they on
tail no cost upon tho municipality
OF Pittsburgh, he pays q compliment
to these colored people in q way that
is worthy Of tho highest commenda-
ton. He continues:
The percentage OF single people be-
tween the ages Of eighteen and thirty
IS far greater than that Of the mar
ried ones, which is n natural cxpecta-
ton. or the five hundred and thirty
persons Interviewed, two hundred
and nineteen or forty-one and one
half per cent were single; ono hum
drcd siHty-two or thirty and one-half
per cent were married, and had al
ready brought their families here,
while one hundred and thirty-n.ne
or twenty-e ght per cent were mar
ried. but were here without their
families. Ninetyeight of the fam
lies had children; thirty-n;nc Of tho
families had no children here, and
seventeen families either had some or
all of the children in the South
White the remaining six placed their
children under tho care OF relatives or
institutions. Tho number Of chill
drcn per family Of those who had
their wives here varied from one to
ten. Forty families had one child
each; twcnty-thrcc, two children
ench; fifteen had three children each.
and twenty had four or more children
each. Nineteen families had one or
more children under twenty helping
to support them. hut only four had
more than one child assisting in the
support OF the family. Among the
orc hundred aud forty-nine persons
whose families remained in the South,
ninety-siX had children and seventeen
had none. OF the remainder q num-
Der stated that they had ono or two
Of their children with them, while
others gave no definite information
Sixtythree of those who had children
at home had no moro than two chill
dren each, while thirty-three had
three or more children at home.
These figures seem to indicate that
the migration is largely that OF
small families.
N'''.'~'"'S->5Ssss;sS sssiSsa
The loafors, crap-shooters and
"ne'er do wells" We're not in this in
dustrial army that has moved north
~ Po~
this migration. The white South
knows these reasons and the better
class Of white folks arc now frantic
ally endeavoring to better and neu-
tralize existing conditions to the end
that the human tide will flow back
again. He says:
The Negro migration from the
South into Pittsburgh, while it has
been acccntuated and accelerated by
the present war, which created a
greater need for labor, is not in real
ity an altogether new thing for Pitts
burgh. There has been a steady III
flux Of Negroes though in small num-
hers. since the pre- Civil War days.
portant stations Of the Underground
Railway, and many Negro came to
Pittsburgh from the nearby slave
states, as to city of refuge. The
Negro population in Allegheny County
grew steadily from 3431 in 1850 to
34,217 in 1910. The percentage of
Negroes in the total population Of the
County has continually increased
within the last four decades. (Two
and two-tenths per cent j.. 1880 and
three and four-tenths in 1907 Me-
groes have always been attracted by
tho opportunities which this city with
its abundance of work and good
wages could offer them in improving
their economic status.
The recent unprecedented influx of
Negroes had made the Negro popula,
ton in Pittsburgh increase more than
twice rs fast within the last two
years as during the entire ten years