Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1918-02-16

~ accredited to Negroes we find u
| marked decline. Tnc percentage of
grave charges compared to the total
number OF arrests has deere. ,Sed~ from
D percent in l9l4.-l5 to 3 percent in
l9l6-17. Thus, We find only two lar
comics in 1861 than in l914-15; a
| considerable decline III charges for
entering buildings and two charges
less of rape.
or the three thousand ninety-two
arrests during 1861 Ole thousand
seven hundred and sixteen were dis
charged without fines, again demcn
strating tho petty character or the
lack of evidence on these charges.
He continues:
1t is not difficult 10 find an eX--
PLANTATION Tor the tremendous increase
III arrests Oh charges OF suspicion, dis
or"eriy conduct AND the like. The col
orcd migrant, timld, 1ricndlcss and
.il""own as he is when he comes from
the South, casry becomes an object
OF surveillance. The railroads were
bringing a train load OF black work
crs practically every day. Mcny come
ito Pittsburgh with the desire to re
main here, but the labor agents want
| hi class either try to get away from
the labor agent, CT, being separated
from him III the general confusion
prevailing at the stations, are strand
cd and left without resources. As
strangers tncy know nothing about
the city or its ways. They are but
lately come out from communities
where they have known only oppres
sion, and i'll many cases their exodus
mas been secret one. 1t is moi re
markable that men in their state OF
nina should be looked upon by the
police as questionable characters and
arrested on the charges OF being sus
picious persons, or should fall into
the hands OF the law for various
otEcr reasons
Could any attorney at the bar ar
que the case of an oppressed and down
troddcn people, while adhcring to
the facts, with more consummate abil
ity than DR.. Abraham Epstein has
done? He "crics aloud and spares not"
the hinderanceS In the South and
, the handicaps in the North. He says:
The market increase in drunken
ness is not surprising either. From an
analysis of the housing and lodging
situation in Pittsburgh the reader
will realize that these migrants
have no place in which to spend their
leisure time except tho street corners
and in the saloon. In practically all
room!ng houses beds are run on n
double shift basis. A man may stay
in his room omy when he sleeps. On
awakening he must surrender his
bed to another ledger and go else
where There are no rccrcational facil
tiles provided him by the city. Only
one place, the saloon, welcomes him
with open doors, and even this dang
crous hospitality is denied him OK
ccpt in the Negro quarters. That the
stranger SHOULD not embrace the on
ly means Of relaxation offered him
in his new environment would be
incredible.
These facts have been prevalent at
some places in the South. They are
emphasized in their severity at most
places in the North, where the stream
Of this migration has flowed. He con
tinucs:
That here Shouia No n big increase
in the visitation Oi dlsorderiy nouscs
Is to be expected. AS we have Seen,
the migration is as yet largely that
Of single men and Of men who have
left their families behind them. As
with the other foreign groups who
have migrated to America, there is
an entire break UP of the normal
family standard. It Is therefore in
evitable that with higher wages and
with the prevailing housing and room
ing congestion vice should flourish.
The fact that in spite of the tremen-
dous increase in disorderly houses
there is some decline in arrests on
charges Of prostitution can be inter
prcted in terms Of the laXity and toe
ance of the police department. This
accounts for the fact that while dt:-'
ing the seven months of 1914-15 five
gambling houses wene raided and
thirty-one persons were arrested for
gambling. there were no raids or ar
rests during the same period this
year.
He says:
Tho big increase in arrests on
charges of felonious cutting, point
ing firearms and carrying concealed
weapons, may be explained in O varia
ty OF ways. Since the post bellum
DAYS. the carrying and handling Of
arms in the South was sanctioned
socially. The whites have carried. and
in some places ape still it,aRryinE
these weapons with them. The Negro
whether because Of his habit Of imi
tatting the whites or because he has
learned the lesson OF protecting and
defending himself has also learned
the habit of carrying weapons. Be
ing too poor or too timid in the
South to purchase a revolver or sim
liar dangerous Weapon he had to
contend himself with a knife or
razor.