Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1919-08-02
EVENTS OF WEEK

1870
During the week the second city on the continent has
been in a state OF terror and demoralizat ton because Of
race riots which, at first confined to the so-called Black
BELT on the south side of Chicago, developed later into
a sort of guerilla warfare of race against race in almost
every part of the city. The police were powerless to cope
with the disorder, and state troops were called in to aid
in restoring order. The precise origin Of a disturbance
Of this character is generally difficult to discover. In this
case the first outbreak occurred at a south side bathing
beach, where it was said that a crowd Of white boys
threw stones at a colored boy on a raft, the fusilade re-
sultins in the drowning Of the colored lad. Negroes near
by, angered by the refusal of the police to arrest the
white boys, started a riot, and within a few hours terror
reigned through the entire district.
1t is evident that the trouble could not have spread
as quickly and SO widely unless there had already existed
great tension. Such tension actually existed. 1t had it's
origin In various causes. Chicago had had regularly a
large colored population and this has been increased since
the beginning of the wal by the influx of some $4,000
negroes who came from the south to take places as la
borers. and in other capacities, to meet the situation Gre
ated by the increased industrial activity, and the enroll
nent OF thousands of Chicago men in the army. This
new element has not been easy to assimilate, and its pres
ence has done much to increase friction between the
races.
AS a result Of the weeks rioting more than thirty
persons have been killed, and an unknown lumber in
jured. While the greatest disturbance has been in and
around the colored settlements on the south side, no per-
son could consider himself safe anywhere in Chicago
when>a group Of the opposite race appeared. While the
actual rioting was confined to the disorderly elements
of both races, the entire black population was stricken
with panic, and one of the first measures taken after
partial order was restored was to send food into the
black district to relieve the people there from the men
ace of starvation. Without military protection white de-
livery men dared not enter the colored settlements, and
the colored inhabitants dared not come out for food.
Ten thousand state troops were called in to reinforce the
police, and normal conditions are being restored.
On the theory that the practice Of imagining ones
self in the other party's shoes is an aid to the understand
ing Of a situation, the recent race riots in this country
may furnish q basis upon which we may check up our
estimates of occasional developments in foreign countries.
With scant knowledge of actual local conditions abroad
we are apt to assume that the outbreak of disorder in
two or three important cities indicates the readiness of
the entire population of a nation to revolt. In a Similar
way we may imagine something of the impression created
on a foreign reader who learns that bloody race riots in
the capital were followed the next week by still more
disastrous riots in the largest city west of the seaboard.
!. The reader in Paris or London is not unlikely to assume
that the entire United States is ready to burst into flame
In a struggle of race against race. Possibly our esti-
mate Of foreign conditions is occasionally equally exag-
serated.
Coincident with the riots in Chicago came the street
railway strike in the same city. Fifteen thousand men.
practically the entire force of employees of the surface and
elevated electric lines. suddenly quit work on the refusal
Of the companies to meet in full their demands for wage
increases and shorter hours. At this distance it appears
that the cessation Of this form Of transportation has
tended to minimize rather than to increase the riot dis
fl1rhances Will cars running ~ wou1d hava haoo a a
for small groups Of men to 60 from place to place seek
ing trouble. AS it is, their activities have been more To-
calized.
The street railway strike, as it developed, is another
instance of mob rule. The demands Of the employees
: were formulated some time ago. and representatives.
were appointed to meet with the employers and, II pos
sible, reach a basis of adjustment. AS a result Of the
I negotiations a basis was arranged on which the men were
to receive material advances, but less than had been
demanded. This plan was acceptable to the companies,
and the representatives of the employees were prepared
to urge its acceptance by them. A meeting attended by
some 5000 men was. held to receive the report Of the
sconmittee, but the committee never had q chance to be
!: hsard. The radical element in the meeting was suha-
sciently numerous to create a disturbance which drowned
the voice of everyone who attempted to speak. and with
out waiting for the report, and amid shouts of " to hell
with the public" a motion to strike was declared adopted.
The whole proceeding was that of a dtsorderly mob. and
~ referendum vote on the strike was ordered by a ma
tional representative. At the hour when this Is written
sthe result Of that vote has not been announced.
There has been a comparative lu1l in the senate dis
sscusslons OF treaty matters. Early in the week the presi-
dent sent to, the senate the text OF the proposed treaty
rith France, accompanying it with a note expressing his
earnnSt desire that It might be approved az a gracious
Aetstoward France. and as an additional temporary meas
ass of security for her pending the complete funchoning
so14he League of Nations. The lines on the French treaty
shaNs not been drawn. but 1t Is certain that considerable
ISD1sssition 10 Il win develop.
Ieaguee ~ nations, has resolved the Signature Of