The Northwest enterprise. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1931-1952, 1949-12-28
JUST NEGOTIATING
BY JUSTIN DAY


country sometimes have an urge
to be heard when certain methods
In our system do not accord with
our own belief and understanding,
and especially when certain stories
OF the press are misleading. Our
city has grown in population to
such an extent that our many
problems increase also. At the pre-
sent time, the most outstanding
problem Is employment. It Is Of
particular concern because fewer
Negroes are being employed in
the various industries, which af-
fects all small business and, most
OF all, Negro business.
The Maritime Industry employs
more Negroes than any other in
dustry in the Northwest, but now
there Is a shortage Of work, due to
the tying up of ships; q decrease in
earnings means slump in busi-
ness, and less candy for the baby,
so to speak. Our churches and
civic organizations. working in CO.
operation with our labor unions,
could do a jam-up job.
More parks. public buildings.
Fairgrounds, tourist camps, with
the tourist trade, means more bust
ness for our state. am q Mari
time worker. I have travelled in
many different countries and I
cogitate on these things. which no
deeply concern me as a citizen of
democratic country which love
and cherish. I hope that our leaders
win recognize and cogitate along
with me on the Industrial question.
Now go with me to the Panama
Canal Zone. Here we find natural
beauty, as well as artificial beauty.
The soil is of great fertility, and
the climate induces luxuriant
growth of tropical vegetation, and
Is always green with the various
agricultural undertakings. The
Canal, itself, Is one Of the greatest
examples of engineering. The ship
canal is forty-six miles across the
Isthmus of Panama.
There are two sections of Pana-
ma: one is the Canal Zone, oper-
ated and supervised by the United
States government; the other Is
Panama under the Panamaian gov
eminent.
The ugliness that exists in the
Canal Zone is caused by the bigot-
ry of man; there we find the worst
forms of segregation and disparity.
Most of the laborers are immi-
grants from the British West In
dies, Costa RIGA and Colombia.
These workers do most of the ac-
tual work, from the highly skilled
to the most comon drudgery.
The whites are referred to as the
Gold Glass;" the colored as the
Silver Class" Therefore, the en-
tire social and economic structure
is classified as gold and silver.
For example, the gold engineer
gets more than twice the salary
the silver engineer receives, even
though the silver worker does the
same work as well, or better, than
the gold worker. If silver worker
is i'll and hospitalized, he is segre-
gated and fed inferior food by at
tendants, who are paid silver
wages under supervision of United
States Army doctors and United
States civilian nurses. All other
personnel come under the silver
category. The situation has re-
Gently improved in Colon, Crisobal
and Balboa, where there existed at
one time gold restaurants and sill
yer restaurants, bars, etc. Clergy
men, labor unions, civic organiza-
tons and government officials are
gradually lifting these barriers.
Here democracy is at work, and it
is good when put into practice
any where in the world.