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

IxEE RKkXfHN
wards Of the North, rather than do
without the decencies 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 the 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 as Il whole. For the in
dustrial concerns, it means that
these m 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
;lho foreign supply OF labor was cut
va ~ lhS wal fiplll lHS SlHllupO III
OF tho community, it Is important to
know that the influx lays few imme-
diate burdens upon the city. There
are few minors to be educated and
few aged or dependent ones likely to
become a public charge.
Tho South, then, has lost not only
the brain of the colored folks, but
the Drawn rs we'll. When DR.. Ep-
stJn states that these colored people
are self-supporting and that they en-
tail no cost upon the municipality
Of Pittsburgh, he pays q compliment
to these colored people In way that
is worthy Of tho highest commenda.
ton. lie continues:
Tho percentage Of single people be-
tween the ages Of eighteen and thirty
is far greater than that Of the mar
ried ones, which is a natural e1pecta-
ton. or the five hundred and thirty
persons interviewed, two hundred
and nineteen or forty-one and one
half per cent were single; ono hun
dred siXty-two or thirty md one-half
per cent were married, and had al
ready brought their families here,
while one hundred and thirty n.no
or twenty-e'g ht per cent were mar
ried, but were here without their
families. Ninctyeight OF the fam
lies had children; thirty-nine Of tho
families had no children here, and
seventeen families either had some or
all Of the children in the South
while the remaining Six placed their
children under tho care Of relatives or
institutions. Tho number Of chill
dren per family OF those who had
their wives here. varied from one to
ten. Forty families had one child
each; twenty-threc, two children
each; fifteen had three children each,
each. Nineteen families had one or
more children under twenty helping
to support them, hut only four had
more than one child assisting In tho
support OF the family. Among the
one hundred and fortynine persons
whose families remained in the South,
nincty-siX had children and seventeen
had none. OF the remainder a num-
Der stated that they had ono or two
OF their children with them, while
others gave no definite information.
Sixty-three 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.
H"'''>''''s'H5Sa'sl \;
The loafors, crap-shooters and
"no'er do wells" were not in this in
dustrial army that has moved north
ward. There are many reasons for
this migration. Tho 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 tho end
that the human tide will flow back
again. He says:
The Negro migration from the
South into Pittsburgh, while it has
been accentuated and accelerated by
tho present war, which created q
greater need for labor, is not in real
ity an altogether new thing for Pitts
burgh. There has been steady in
ftux OF Negroes though in small num-
hers. since the pre- Civil War days
Pittsburgh and Allegheny were i'm
portant stations Of the Underground
Railway, and many a Negro came to
Pittsburgh from the nearby slave
states, as to a 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. 1.-TWO
and two-tenths per cent t.. 1880 and
three and four-tenths in 1907 Me-
groes have always been attracted by
the opportunities which this city with
It's abundance Of work and good
wages could offer them in improving
their economic status.
The recent unprecedented influx Of
Na0rno, 6oI a