Evening star., 1923-07-22
study of the Figures.

general way to the unfair treatment
of such tenants"
study of the Figures.
Aside from other reasons. real or
ina ginary, an interesting statistical
study of the lure the north holds for
the negro has been complied by Phil
H. Brown. a student of the problems
of his own race, a commissioner of
Cancellation for the Department OF
Labor assigned to study the present
negro migration.
Mr.. Brown shows that in twenty
two trades in the manufacture of cot
ton, the only large industry shared
by any northern and southern state,
Massachusetts pays $3.50 per cent
more for labor than is paid in the
south.
Turning TO the cost OF living. Mr..
Brown compares the Calumet district
around Chicago with Charleston, S.
G.. and Houston. Texas. For fifteen
food commodities the cost is shown
to be PAS cents higher in Charleston
and 32.5 higher in Houston, Texas,
than in the Calumet district.
The negroes are being placed in the
great Industries of the north. Com
pare his wages, in cash, in some of
the industries, with the credit" he is
allowed at some plantation commits
sary for his bale of cotton In the
building industries. unskilled negro
labor is getting 42.5 cents an hour;
steel. 1916; rubber. sol: road building.
As; packing, AS, and in the automo-
bile industry. 4S.2 cents an hour
Yet another explanation, and a
natural one, of the growing exodus,
lies in that human trait to call out
come on in, the waters fine" Every
one of the immigrants to the north
has a circle of friends back home,
and he writes to one or two of them,
describing conditions which are bet
ter, or sound much better. than those
at home. Another job always seems
good when it's far away. Instances
could be cited to show that this
letter writing back home has come
near depicting some communities of
their negro inhabitants. Colored
pastors have packed up their belong
ings and taken out after their scat
tering fiocks, while doctors have left
the south to follow their patients
into a climate which offers more
lucrative professional inducements
And here is where the southerners
have been. balked in their efforts to
stop this migration. Some of the
states have, passed laws prohibiting
labor agents from soliciting for COL
ored employees, while other southern
communities have resorted to char
acteristic southern expedients for
getting rid of labor recruiters. But
the letter from friend up north who
is making big money is more elo-
quent in its appeal than all the SPELL
binding labor seekers that northern
industries could send into the south.
1t is an interesting fact that only
21.12 per cent of the negroes ques-
toned as to why they came north,
a reason. ~ "a
Every cloud has its silver lining,
and If this great dark wave spread
ing northward may be considered in
a sense Of the word cloud, it is no
exception. For the first time, per-
haps, in its history. the south is re-
ceiving jolt sufficiently sudden and
hard to bring home a vivid realization
Of its dependence on that picturesque
combination, the negro and his mule.
Wages are already going up for the
negro in the south. Those who are
left behind are given inducements
never before known to make them,
stay. And in many instances the
lonely mule is being scrapped for a
substituted farm tractor or steam
shovel. The south may for too long
have taken the negro and his mule
for granted.
Sees Great Experiment
AS for these negro pioneers, they
are m trial Nv Prouy, a.,