The Omaha guide., 1933-01-07

mild compared to the reign Of terror
inflicted upon these simple river
folks."-from American Federation Of
Labor report published in American
Federationist, March, 1882.
TO be sold down the river was the
most terrifying fate that could befal
a slave before the Civil War. Down
the river, hope ended. Only death Of.
fered a release from brutal mistreat-
ment, brutal working conditions, and
despair Of ever coming away alive.
That great river down which the
slaves were sold is the scene Of a new
and terrible slavery today. The slav-
cry OF 1892. like that before the Civil
War, is rooted in the exploitation of
black mems labor, the ~mistreatment
Of their bodies, and the denial to them
of the primary decencies that civiliz-
aion owes all human beings. 1t is
practised on work undertaken. con-
trolled and financed by the United
States Government, he Mississippi
Flood Control project" intended to
curb the devastating floods of the
Mississippi River over the adjacent
land Of the Delta states.
Two Investigations independently
undertaken have reported and estab-
lished the facts beyond any reasonable
doubt. One of these Investigations,
by representatives of the American
Federation Of Labor, is quoted from
above. The other was made for the
National Association for Advance
ment of Colored People, during the
summer of 1882, by Miss Helen Board
man, a college graduate, former Red
Cross relief worker who had been in
charge of relief work in former Miss
issippi flood disasters.
What are the conditions which these
two Independent Investigations have
established?
The federal government has accept
ed bids of private contractors for the
levee work to be done. Those private
contractors, supposedly under govern
ment supervision in the conduct of
their work have been found guilty of
tho fOl1Ou1pr ,o;eJaoJe.
1. OVERWORK: Negroes on levee
work in the private camps have been
worked seven days a week for as
much as II and in many cases Ia and
16 hours a day, and have been worked
at night in addition to overlong day
time hours without one CEN of over
time pay.
2. UNDERPAYMENT: The rate
Of pay has been as low as ten cents
an hour and even less and in a multi
tude Of authenticated cases the men
have been summarily discharged
without pay; have received only a
fraction Of the pay stipulated; and al
most universally have been system
atically robbed by charges for ice
water, cooks charges, and forced pur-
chases at company stores and COM
missaries where the prices are extor-
tionate. The almost in|variable result
is that they have received little or
nothing for their work. Examples of
company store ~extortions are as fol-
lows: lib. sack Of flour so cents.
regular price 80 cents; salt pork Is
cents, regular price 6 cents; cotton
pants 81, regular price SO cents; ON
densed milk 20 cents, regular price s
cents.
2. BEATINGS: Men and women
as well have been subject to brutal
beatings by overseers. Levee workers
are so terror-stricken that they would
never ever tell of the levee camp hor-
rors unless promised that their nam
es would be withheld. "The attitude
OF many contractors toward their
labor is exceedingly reminiscent of
slavery at its worst" says the NAA-
CP. report. Actual hunger drives hu-
man beings to accept almost any bru-
tally to avert starvation.
A.. UNSANITARY CONDITIONS:
Crowded, floorless tents. filthy quar-
ters, no garbage disposal, no screens,
in mosquito and malaria infested coun
try. "a great deal of illness was OBJ
served, chiefly malaria, flu and rheu-
matism."
s.. OVERCHARGING: "One con
tractor expressed the attitude of all
when he said that he did not expect
to pay his labor anything above their
maintenance. The commissary sys-
TEN enables them to carry this out.
In many instances, a commissarv had
no other reason for existence as there
were stores within easy distance Of
the camps" Trading at the comp
any-owned commissary stores has
been enforced with discharge or phys
ical violence in cases of failure to do
SO. A minimum charge Of $3.50 is
assessed against workers in some
camps for food, ice water, cooking,