The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1919-08-07
RIOTS CAUSED
BY EXPLOlTERS
POLITICIANS AND EMPLOYERS
USE NEGRO AGAINST WHITE
WORKERS OF OUR CITIES

USE NEGRO AGAINST WHITE
WORKERS OF OUR CITIES
Many cities Of the east, and partic-
ularly our national capital, have had
terrible race riots. Now the evil has
spread to Chicago. About two years
ago East st. Louis and several other
centers experienced the same viola
tions Of law and order. Chicago now
registers q total of not less than 80
dead and hundreds, if not thousands,
Of injured.
What are the cause of such out
breaks in country which above all
others claims to be land Of law and
order? Why do we aud to the ma
tfonal crime of lynching, fighting be-
tween races which compares with old
Russia's program against the Jews?
Two great factors stand out as hav-
ing special significance:
1. The exploitation Of the negro
by employers and politicians to the
detriment of the common white people.
2. The fact that we have contented
ourselves with race determinations
instead Of merely race differences.
The work Of freeing the negro was
only half done by the Civil War. The
freeing Of the negro from slavery
should have been followed by tho
guarantee of equal opportunity.
Negro Half Free
How the politicians and employers
can take advantage Of the half free
negro is not hard to understand. In
our large cities the negroes live in a
certain section Of the city and the
politicians organize them to back spe-
cial privilege with their votes in re-
turn for minor political favors. City
refor1ners and working class candi-
dates in general must, therefore, al
ways meet big, ignorant, boss-con-
trolled negro vote. This produces
much ill-feeling.
But the big thing which immediate
ly causes the outbreaks is the use Of
the negro to. beat down the white
workman's wage. The negro work
men, especially those in the South, are
practically unorganized. Their stand
ard of living is decidedly below that
of the northern whites. And northern
employers have been bringing them in
in ruthless fashion since the war
started. ! w..
Masses of Blacks Imported
They have special agents touring
the South to solicit the negroes under
false pretenses and making up trains
for shipment to northern cities. Then
they shift these trainloads Of ignor-
ant negro workers to any place where
white labor is making fight for bet
ter wages an working conditions.
Testimony brought out in the inves-
tigation of the East st. Louis riots
showed that trainload after trainload
Of negroes had been dumped into that
city to such an extent that large
part Of them were starving. Their
want was consequently causing them
to commit crimes and to work for any
thing an employer would offer. Poll
ticians representing the employers in
that city looked to negroes for votes
to maintain their system. Little won
der, therefore, that the white work
men in that city broke out into violent
blind rage and hate.
Protests of the northern workers
against these tactics were held down
by the false loyalty and support the
war; propaganda Of the special inter-
ests and we are now reaping the re-
suits Of the failure to right injustice
in time. Whenever an inferior race
has been 50 used against native work
men, the same results have occurred.
England has had riots over the Chin
ese and African negroes she import
ed during the war and has failed to
send back.
As contributing causes to the riots
we might also mention the state Of
mind Of the negro soldier who has ne
turned from the war and is CALLED by
the indignities thrust upon him and
the desire Of some city interests to
create a diversion from the agitation
over the cost Of living.
The negro must be educated. He
must be organized into unions that h9
may take his proper place beside and
not hostile to white workers. Criminal
activities Of the politicians and big
employers should be exposed and pun
ished. Let us have race distinctions
50 far as there is q feeling On either
side that they are needed, but end the
determinations which place the negro
in helpless position under the big ex-
ploiters. The negro should, like the
white, Be able TO secure what be pro-
duces.
Taken Up One dark bay mare,
star in froehead, white left feet, no
visible brand, about two years old,
came to my place about May III. Ow-
ner may have same by paying costs
of advertising and keep. John p. An.