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D ivisio n
f-fe s w n e s
o f — N fiO jfo
-
P h i H ip s
Exionoroic^i
£ r-o u ^ z
A.
of
2-3
October 26, 1920
Dr. George H. Haynes,
D irecto r o f Negro Soonomios,
158 Vest 151st S tre e t,
New York, N. Y.
Uy dear Dr, Haynes:
The proposed p lan o f the D iv isio n o f Negro Soancmioe, regardin g my
Ohio-west V ir g in ia it in e ra r y , as te n ta tiv e ly worked out by me, v l l l
oompriae (1 ) A general study o f Negroes in the mining occupations,
and (2 ) The ch ild ren o f Negro miners.
I t haB been aimed to v i s i t
Ohio and West V ir g in ia counties where the mining output has equaled
o r exceed 1,000,000 tons o f coal and ookB p e r y e a r, and where, o f
course, Negro miners are considerably engaged.
I t is a lso desired
to s in g le out a few a ty p ic a l l o c a l i t i e s , i f any there by.
You
w i l l n o tic e , from te n tative it in e r a r y enclosed, that 1 have selected
a range from Belmont County, Ohio, w ith about a m illio n tons output,
to Payette County, V . V a ., w ith 7,881,872 tons output; o r , I oould
s e le c t McDowell County, V , V a., as a s u b stitu te f o r Payette County.
McDowell has averaged over 12,000,000 tons, and, as w e ll as Payette
County, is in the heart o f the Black B e lt o f the Seat V ir g in ia co a l
mining regio n s.
Of course, w ith in but 15 o r 16 days, 1 oan get but a birdseye view
o f the s itu a tio n , but i t may be that I oan adduce enough fao ts in
that short p eriod o f time to mako i t ad visable fo r the Department,
a t some future time, to send out an in v e stig a to r fo r a three o r
fou r months stay in the coal re gio n s.
I t mi^at be, even, that l a t e r
the Bureau o f Labor S t a t i s t ic s , in handling i t s c o s t - o f -liv in g stu d ies,
would be gla d to make some combination in searching out the causes
o f the flu ctu atio n s in coal p ric es which s u re ly , to some extent,
grow out o f the la b o r market, fraught w ith impending and past s trik e s
and t h e ir attendant conditions.
Yours re s p e c t fu lly ,
Sp ecial Agent.
iinoloaurea - Itin e ra ry and ten tative schedule.
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY
W A SH IN G TO N
October 26, 1920.
Dr. George N. Haynes,
158 West 131b t S t.,
New York, N. Y.
JJy dear Dr. Haynes:
I f you see Hiss Shields, w i l l you not kindly ask her to send in
d aily reports, as before, showing her mail and telegraph ic address
in New York.
There is a l e t t e r here now which should have her
immediate a tten tion , but, alas, I do not know where to reach her.
Yours very tru ly,.
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY
W A SH IN G TO N
October 25, 1920.
Dr. George E. Haynes,
158 West 131st S t.,
Hew York, H. Y.
Ity dear Dr. Haynes:
1 have talked, over the 'phone, with the Assistant Secretary regarding
le t t e r o f Congressman Drewry and the Petersburg Chamber o f Commeroe
regarding in vestigations in the Petersburg d is t r ic t .
The Assistant
Secretary states the correspondence may be handled in the customary
s ty le a ft e r due advisement by your o ffio e .
The inference is , then,
that reply w ithin a few days w i l l constitute a "reasonable time" within
which the Congressman should expect reply, his le t t e r being dated
the 22d instant.
As soon as your draft has been received th is o ffic e w ill expedite
copy fo r signature o f the Secretary.
.
Yours re sp ectfu lly ,
DEPARTMENT OF L A B ^ p . ^ ^ V E D
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY
W A SH IN G TO N
LnoVM T
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1920
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October 21, 1S20
Dr. George E. Haynes,
Director of iiegro kconomice,
212 Bank S treet,
liewark, H, J.
Dear Dr. Kayaes;
The oowaussioaei^of the U* S. Bureau o f Jidnoation i t today i&Fuing
you an invitation to ita meeting at Atlanta, Ga., Eovomber 15 and 20,
1920a
Yours re sp ectfu lly ,
Jpeol&l Agent.
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY
W A S H IN G T O N
October 21, 1920.
Dr. George JS. Haynes,
D ireotor o f Negro Boonomics,
212 Bank S treet,
Newark, N. J.
Dear Dr. HayneB:
The Commissioner o f the U. S. Bureau o f Education is today issuing
you an in v ita tio n to its meeting at A tlanta, Ga., November 19 and 20,
1920.
October 26, 1920.
Dr. Qeorge £• Haynes,
158 West 131st S t .,
Nee York, N. I .
My dear Dr. Haynes:
I f you see Hiss S h ie ld s, w i l l you not kindly ask her to send in
d a ily rep o rts, as b e fo re , showing her m ail and te leg rap h ic address
in New York.
There is a l e t t e r here now which should hare her
immediate atten tio n , bu t, a la s , I do not know where to reaoh h er.
Yours very t r u ly .
Speoial Agent
October 21, 1920,
Dr. George B« Haynes,
D irector o f Degro Economics,
212 Bank Btroet,
Kesmrk, N* J.
hy dear Dr* Haynes;
Herewith, I enclose prepared, release and manuscript.
I note that
the manuscript is composed both o f carbons and o r ig in a ls , and in fe r
that (he cop;, you have is incomplete.
Hence, I am hastening to
send you. cop; ’which should reach you early tomorrow morning.
A l l instructions have been follow ed to completion.
Tours re s p e c tfu lly ,
Special Agent
Enclosures
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY
W A S H IN G T O N
October 21, 1920.
Or. George E. Haynes,
D irector of Negro Economics,
212 Bank S treet,
Newark, N. J.
My dear Dr. Haynes;
Herewith, I enclose prepared release and manusoript.
I note that
the manuscript is composed both o f carbons and o rig in a ls , and in fe r
that the copy you have is incomplete.
Hence, I am hastening to
send you copy which should reach you early tomorrow morning.
A ll instructions have been follow ed to completion.
Enclosures
Form 12 t
REQUISITION FOR DUPLICATION WORK
Bureau
No.
18-1-5
P u b lic a tio n s
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
No.
W ashington
1
Date
Bureau
Metero
Gotobar 21. 1820.
________________
Chief, Division of Publications and Supplies:
Please have work described below duplicated as per copy herewith.
Name _________________ _______________ —
T itle
a . h
—
O l a » -* -
Description of work: Duplication - ttiffiecC(raph - and lm ed ia ta roleasa to the
.
.
oopies:
,
500, ( approximately i ^egrc aiwepnpors
Mimeograph paper:
I&3XLJGISIE*
££bttbbbbki£bttfe££d:
Additional instructions:
iionaa sand 20 advance oopier. to Division o f Megro
Moonooios fo r izanudi&te o a llln g to a few oeleotod
papers going to press tor*>rrow, and fo r a few
in dividu als.
•
Copy received
S t e n c i l by
Operator
C opyholder
Stencils used
Reader
.
INSTRUCTIONS
T h is form to be t r a n s m i t t e d to the D i v i s i o n o f P u b l i c a t i o n s
accompanied by copy and stoc k upon which wcrk i s t o be p r i n t e d .
and S u p p l i e s ,
COPY SHOULD ALWAYS BE CAREFULLY PREPARED as to form, s p e llin g , punctuation,
c a p ita liza tio n , etc.
S u fficien t paper should be supplied tc allow fo r about 50 additional sheets
for each thousand copies.
This is necessary fo r proofs and spoilage.
Each requ isition should be NUMBERED by the Bureau in the space provided.
Received the above
, 19
Name
243
Title
.
SPECIAL
V
August 25, 1920.
Memorandum to Dr. Haynes:
I have ju s t made an e f f o r t to secure tra v e l au thority (blanket
e ffe c t iv e duly 1, 1920, to oovor your tra v e l under the present d o - ’
partmontal arrangement.
I made the e f f o r t through the Iranigrat ion
"Is s u in g O ffic e r " - Mr* R ussell - thenoe through Mr* Crown (who handles
such m a tte rs).
Mr* Crown sta te s he can Issue no au th o rity , excepting
over the in stru ction s o f L r . Camninetl, and states you should take up
the request w ith Mr. Cammineti, d lr e o t.
Undoubtedly you, ra ta e r than 1, should fo llo w th is matter up*
R esp ectfu lly ,
Special Agent.
P O S TA L TELEG R A P H - C O M M E R C IA L C A B LE S
CLARFNCC
RECEIVED AT
EVANS BUILDING
1418 NEW VORK AVENUE
W ASHINGTON.
t e l e p h o n e : m a in
O.
eeoo
H
M -u CK A V .
P « c sio »
nt.
D ELIVERY NO.
C,
The Postal Telegraph-Cable D>mpanjf(lncofporetfd)tran5fmfs and delivers this message subject to the terms and conditions printed on the back of this blank.
f L A I i a / u l M f T a ltf n m K iU m o M p e l p < a a i« l« il St t i t nat after the num ber o f u n rd t: —*‘ V. L . " W i t hi W l « r » r « m ) or “ y ite ” { S it St Tttogrmm) |
lBBnytq 932a 17
BR
uewycrk
oct 14
E a r l 3P P h i l l i p s ,
Dept o f Labor ,/ashn DC
Telegram reed toe la t e fo r
M rs. Haynes Act w ith yon
Coming w irin g se c retary stop Ask
wherever a p p ro p ria te .
August 21, 1920
Mj9a.9..r.
WJB s
Tos The D irector o f Negro Economics
From: Kis A ssistant
Subject: Supplemental Investigations - M o rtality among Negro
children - C hildren’ s Bureau.
1 have examined the very excellen t reports o f the C h ild ren 's
Bureau on ’’ Infant M o rta lity ” .
The work is e x c e lle n tly done and the
comparison*) (native and fo re ig n ) are very s ig n ific a n t .
The c it ie s
seleated - Johnstown, P a ., Ifanohestor, V. n ., Broekton, M ass., :.aginaw,
M ich., Jew Bedford, M ass., U o n to la ir, jS . J . , and Waterbary, Conn.,
were peoui|^rly perm issive o f the etudier intended.
Prom the viewpoint o f Negro o h lld ren , I doubt whether any o f
those o it ie s o f f e r a f e r t i l e f i e l d o f work.
The points emphasised
in the present p u blicatio n s may be w e ll adjusted and suynented to
b e tte r illu s t r a t e conditions among fiegro oh lld ren and t h e ir environment.
For instants, "dominant industry" may be emphasized. "Age o f confine
ment" may be re-emphasized.
"Does the Mother Work" may be stresse d .
"Conditions o f itaployment" may be " r e -t r e a t e d " .
"Family income
may be stresse d , rather than ” E a rn in g o f F ath er".
Of course, "housing"
oan be enlarged upon.
I t seems to me, a ls o , that considerable inquiry
should be made as to the a v a i la b i l i t y to , and the use by Negro fam ilies
o f "P u b lic Health Equlpnent" and the lik e .
Where p o s s ib le , comparisons
may be made between Negro, American and Foreign fa m ilie s .
This i s Just a b r i e f treatment o f my f i r s t consideration o f
the re p o rts.
I oan submit sample questionnaire, including what I con
s id e r e s p e c ia lly -s ig n ifle a n t features as to Negro fa m ilie s , upon one
d ay 's n o tice.
I recommend that the studies be made In Newark, P h iladelp h ia
and Richmond.
R esp ectfu lly ,
Speoial Agent
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CKILIHSN Ob NbCRO VGAktrtri
Schedule I - During the preschool age
Schedule I I - From the preschool age t-~- "n jn ritr —
dCHUIXJLb I
1. M o rta lity
Total number o f children
Total number o f deaths
heath rate - per cent.
2. The bamily:
Age
Age
Age
a. Humber o f children
Total
b. The family income
Occupation
1. burnings o f fath er
2. barningB o f Mother
3. burnings o f a l l other contributors
c. Humber o f children to whose support the father is the principal
contributor.
d. Humber o f children to whose support persons other than bather
are the p rin cip al contributors.
3. The Horae:
Surround ings;
a.
b.
c.
d.
Clean
Moderately clean
Unclean
Remarks.
4. S ocial plane:
a. School and Sunday school attendance
b . Companions
c. Amusements.
2
5. Supervision and care:
a. Lother or Father
b. Other re la tiv e s
c. hay nursery or other public or private supervision
6. Habits and mental t r a it s :
1.
2.
3.
4.
Humber o f children
Father - prin cip al contributor
Other contributors.
Economic status o f mother.
a. Home
b. Is she a wage-earner?
5. Is head o f family widow or widower?
2. Employment:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Of Father
Of Mother
Of other contributors to fam ily budget
Of minor children
hoes minor ch ild contribut to family budget?
3. The minor children:
1. School attendance - within pale o f school laws or fo r
f u l l term.
2. Truancy
3. Social plane a. Ghurch
b. Associations
c. Delinquency.
4. The ch ild wage-earner
1. Health
2. Humber o f hours worked per week
3. .1ages
DEPARTMENT
OF
LABOR
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY
W A S H IN G T O N
August 21, 1920.
Me mo
randura :
To: The D irector o f Negro economics
e'rom: His Assistant
oubject: Supplemental investigations - M orta lity among Negro
children - Children's Bureau.
I have examined the very excellen t reports o f the Children's
Bureau on "In fan t M o rta lity ".
The work is ex cellen tly done and the
comparisons (native and fo reig n ) are very s ig n ific a n t.
The c it ie s
selected - Johnstown, P a ., Manchester, B. II., Brockton, Mass., Saginaw,
L ic h ., New „edford, Mass., M ontclair, N. J ., and ,/aterbury, Conn.,
were p ecu lia rly peim issive o f the studies intended.
From the viewpoint o f Negro children, I doubt whether any of
those c it ie s o ffe r a f e r t i l e f i e l d o f work.
The points emphasized
in the present publications may be w ell adjusted and augnented to
b etter illu s tr a te conditions among Negro children and th e ir environment,
lo r instance, "dominant industry" may be emphasized. "Age o f confine
ment" may be re-emphasized.
"Does the Mother work" may be stressed.
"Conditions o f iinployraent" may be "re -tre a te d ".
"Family income (kp)"
may be stressed, rather than "Darnings o f Father".
Of course, "housing
can be enlarged upon.
It seems to me, also, that considerable inquiry
should be made as to the a v a ila b ility to , and the use by Negro fam ilies
o f "Public Health Nquipnent" and the lik e .
Tihere possible, comparisons
may be made between Negro, American and Foreign fa m ilies.
This is just a b r ie f treatment o f my f i r s t consideration o f
the reports.
I can submit sample questionnaire, including what I con
sid er e s p e c ia lly -s ig n ific a n t features as to Negro fa m ilies, upon one
day's n otice.
I recommend that the studies be made in Newark, Philadelphia
and Richmond.
SPECIAL
DEPARTMENT
OF
LABOR
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY
W A S H IN G T O N
.
August 20, 1920.
Me mo r a nd um
:
To: The Director o f Negro Lcononics
The Chief Clerk summoned me to his o ffic e this morning and
directed the fo llow in g changes in the proof o f "The Negro at .York
During the ,<ar and During the Reconstruction Period":
T it le PaKe: "U. S. Department o f Labor, O ffic e o f the
Secretary" should be changed to read ,TU« S. Department o f Labor,
.<♦ S. Yilson, S ecretary."
Calley page PP 31: In f i f t h paragraph appropriate change
should be made to read ’’ lion. James L. Cox. Covemor o f the S ta te" etc.
The Chief Clerk stated that the rumor had reached him, though
the Assistant Secretary, that the Director of Negro Economics was going
to cut out the speech o f Cov. Cox, appearing in the b u lle tin .
The
DEPARTMENT
OF
LABOR
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY
W A S H IN G T O N
August 19, 1920.
Me mo r a nd um
;
To: The Director o f Negro iiconomios
n'rom: His assistant
Subject: Heport and plans - Women’ s bureau - Negro workers.
I have gone ca re fu lly over the f i l e which is purported to
support the proposed report o f the Negro Industrial Agent, with regard
to the studies o f Negro women workers during the war and post-war
periods, and find that 1. There are p r a c tic a lly no concrete fa cts, figures or
circumstances whioh support the data o f the
proposed report 2. That there is resu ltan tly a considerable risk in the
department's assuming resp o n sib ility fo r the re
port in its present shape, because
a. I t consists o f conclusions, without lo g ic , and
b. I t contains too many matters o f opinion, without
reasons th erefor.
3. Consequently, two-thirds o f tlie report should be
elim inated, and a complete revisio n made, probably
possible in eight to ten pages.
I t seems to me that future studies to be made by the incoming
Industrial Agent would have to be made along one o f two lin es 1. Comparative to the studies made b„, the former agent,
that is to say - comparing present conditions with
those discovered by the former Agent - or
2. New studies, disregarding, i f necessary, previous conditions,
and being intensive and exhaustive as to conditions as
found today.
The danger o f pursuing studies along the lin e mentioned under "1” is
that the present Industrial Agent w i l l be lim ited in scope and in
m aterial to the f i e l d and opinion o f the former Agent.
I t may be
that the present Agent can construct a more "wholesome** and more
comprehensive questionnaire than that used by the former Agent.
2
The s lig h t danger o f pursuing "new studies" only, i t seems to me, lie s
only in the probable lack o f comparisons o f conditions o f war and
post-war periods.
I think this danger is discounted, however, by
the "new approach" which the present Industrial Agent can invoke.
I t is probable that her new questionnaire w i l l be b etter f it t e d to
present-day conditions.
Then, too, in some cases i t w i l l be possible
fo r her to give greater emphasis to things which are re a lly more " v i t a l"
today than thqy were "yesterday" - such as wage scales, hours o f service,
etc.
Therefore, I resp ectfu lly recommend 1. That the report o f the former Agent be revised and
handled by i t s e l f in one o f the ways recommended
by you in your memorandum of yesterday - and
2. That the present Agent complete her outline and
questionnaire and be assigned to new studies.
August 19, 1920*
K Sift 9 r . . f c a J l a j a >
To* Clio d r e o t o r o f Segro economics
Trout Bis assistant
Subjaott deport and plans - woman's bureau - Hegro workers*
1 have gone c a r e fu lly over the f i l e which is purported to
support the proposed report o f the Hegro In d u s tria l Agent, w ith regard
to the stu dies o f hegro women workers during the war and post-war
p e rio d s , and find that •
1. There a re p r a c t ic a lly no concrete fa c ta , fig u re s o r
olroumstanoes which support the data o f the
proposed report 2. That there is re su lto n tly a considerable r is k in the
dei*artment ’ s assuming re s p o n s ib ility fo r the re
port In it s present shape, because
a . I t consists o f conclusions, without l o g ic , and
b . I t contains too mai$r matters o f opinion, without
reasons th e re fo r.
3. Consequently, tw o-thirds o f the report should be
elim inated, and a complete re v is io n made, probably
p o ssib le in eigh t to ten pages.
I t seems to toe that fu ture studies to be made by the incoming
In d u s tria l Agent would have to be made along one o f two lin e s 1, Comparative to the studies made by the former agent,
that is to say - comparing present conditions with
those discovered by the former Agent - o r
2 , Hew s tu d ie s , d isreg ard in g , i f necessary, previous conditions,
and bein g intensive and exhaustive as to conditions as
found today.
The danger o f pursuing studies along the lin e mentioned under "1 " is
that the present In d u stria l Agent w i l l be lim ited in soope and in
m aterial to the f i e l d and opinion o f the former Agent.
It may be
that the present Agent can construct a more "wholesome” and more
comprehensive questionnaire than that used by the former Agent.
2
The B lig h t danger o f pursuing "new stu d ie s " only, i t seems to me, l i e s
only in the probable lack o f comparisons o f conditions o f war and
poet-w ar p erio d s.
1 think th is danger i s discounted, however, by
the "new approaoh" which the present In d u s tria l Agent can invoke.
I t is probable that her new questionnaire w i l l be b e tte r f i t t e d to
present-day conditions.
Then, too, in some oases I t w i l l bo p o s s ib le
f o r her to give g re a te r emphasis to things which are r e a lly more " v i t a l "
today than they' were "yesterday*1 - such as wage s c a le s , hours o f se rv io e ,
eto.
T herefore, I re s p e c tfu lly recommend 1 . That the report o f the former Agent be re v ise d end
handled by i t s e l f in one o f the ways reoozonended
by you in your maaorandoa o f yesterday - and
2. That the present Agent complete her o u tlin e and
questionnaire and be assigned to new stu d ies.
NEGRO WOKEN HI INEUSTHT
1. Purpose o f U. S. Dept, to - " o f wage-earning v/omen" eto.
2. Study not covering " a l l industrial occupations at which the
three m illio n Negro working women o f the U. S. are
employed."
3. One hundred seventy plants - - surveyed? Plants and in
dustries "in v estig a ted ".
4. "Lon0-distance stu dies".
Jhat does this mean?
5. Introduction is not supported hy tex t o f report
^
Page One:
Page Two;
t* {S'
1. Community problems studied and recommendations, etc.
2. Lore than 50^ o f Negro wage-earners are women?
3. "tfith elementary education" etc.
Page Pour:
1. Table poor - needs reconstruction.
Page Five:
1. Over'5,000 doing' o ffic e work in 16 o ffic e s .
Government work
constitutes how much o f "card f i l i n g , clerk in g" and "ty p is t,
stenographer" - "were found to be equal to any observed",
in what respects?
2. "A b a tto ir" mispelled .- correct i t .
Page Six:
h
P
r.
Appreciated th e"shorter” working day.
Armistice meant dismissal o f most o f these workers.
"For m ajority" etc.
V/here are fa cts o f numbers in
plants since arm istice to show this?
Page Seven-.
.Vorkers seeing these advantages are organizing.
advantages due to organizing?
Page Night:
"Jinny are s t i l l to be found".
How many?
"Are working under most objectionable conditions.
V/hat are they?
Are
iinployment managers "in varia b ly in sisted upon h irin g
only p retty types". How do you know?
Vague.
"The working season being approximately
id en tical with the sohool term."
Pages Nieiit and .;ine:
Tobacco:
h
General opinion - without data.
Pearfully vague and unspecific:
available industries?
Age, wage rate
P
2
Page Uine:
Paragraph on "hotels" fearfully vague and almost immaterial.
"These latter were afterward"
After what?
Page Eleven:
General statements without data.
p
h
Page fourteen: "Conditions apt to be” etc.
h
Page
h
Sixteen: (d) General opinion - without data.
Page Seventeen: (b) Organization statement unsupported.
Page Eighteen: Paragraph Pour;
graph vague.
IIow can you prove it?
h
Hext para
P
Page nineteen: "Education".
words 1 This is not fundamental
elementary education in industry.
I t is the "p olish in g up"
which should fo llow an education in the understanding of
industry - - o f work.
P
Pages 23-29. Account o f what1 .'omen's Bureau did rather than what
N
was discovered.
h
Page 23. "Adm inistrative methods".
What are they?
they be?
(This part should be l e f t out)
hp
3hat should
Page 25. Second paragraph.
The "climax" is Oivon begore "tragic moments"
and "moments of last suspense."
"Addresses made at" incomplete.
Pag* Hina:
Paragraph on "h o tels" fe a rfu lly vague and almost im m aterial.
"These la tte r were afterw ard"
A fte r what?
Page Eleven:
General statements without data.
p
h
Page fourteen: "Conditions apt to he" eto.
h
Page ESftfcteen: (d ) General opinion - without data.
h
Page Seventeen:
h
(b ) Organisation statement unsupported.
Page Eighteen: Paragraph Pour:
graph vague.
How oan you prove it?
Hext para
p
Page Nineteen: "Education".
Words! This is not
elementary education in Industry.
i t Is the "p o lis h in g up"
which should fo llo w an education in the understanding o f
industry - - o f work.
P
Pages 23-29. Account o f what Women’ s Bureau did ra th er than what
was discovered.
h
Page 23. "Adm inistrative Methods".
What are they?
they be?
(This part should be l e f t out)
hp
What should
/
Page 25. Second paragraph.
The "ollm ax" is given begore "tra g io
and "moments o f la s t suspense."
"Addresses made at" Iqoanrolete.
n ts"
BEQRO WCK3N IN INSDSTHf
One:
h
h
<a tf tt
.
1* Purpose o f 0. 3. Dspt. to - "o r wage-earning women" e tc .
dtudy not oovering " a l l in d u s tria l occupations a t whiah the
three m illio n Negro working women o f the U . S. are
employed."
3. One hundred seventy p lan ts - - surveyed? Plants and in
d u stries " in v e s tig a te d "•
4. "Long-distance s t u d ie s ".
What does th is mean?
5. Introduction is not supported by text o f report
2
tftftf
Page Two:
1. Ooumunity problems studied and reoonmendations, eto.
2. More than 60£ o f Negro wage-earners are women?
3. "With elementary edaoation" eto.
Page /our:
1* Table poor - needs reconstrootion.
Page Five:
1. Over 5,000 doing o ffio e work in 16 o f f i o e s .
Government work
oonstitutes how nuoh o f "oard f i l i n g , c le rk in g " and " t y p is t ,
stenographer" • "were found to be equal to any observed",
in shat respects?
2. "A b a tto ir" m lsp ellsd - oorrsot I t .
Page 8 ix:
h
P
Appreciated the"sh orter' working day.
Armistice meant dismissal of most of tnese workers.
"/ o r m ajority" eto .
Where are fa c ts o f numbers in
plants slnoe arm istice to show this?
Page Seven:
•
Workers seein g these advantages are o rgan isin g.
advantages due to organising?
Page S i& iti
"Many are e t i l l to be found” .
How many?
"Are working under most objection able conditions.
What a re they?
.
Are
anploymsnt managers "in v a ria b ly in s is te d upon h ir in g
only p re tty ty p es". Bow do you know?
Vagae.
"The working season being approximately
id e n tic a l with the school t o m ."
Pages Might and dine:
Gene m l opinion - without data.
Tobaooo: Fearfully vague and unspeolflo:
available industries?
Age, wage rate
h
p
iI||I
Page Hines
Paragraph on "h o te ls" fe a rfu lly vague and almost Im m aterial.
"These la tte r were afterward"
A fte r what?
p
Eleven:
h
General statements without data.
fourteen: "Conditions apt
ESlateen:
tobe” e tc .
h
(d ) General opinion - without data.
Eighteen: Paragraph Four:
graph vague.
How oan you prove It?
h
Xext para
p
Page nineteen: "Education".
ordal This is not fundamental
elementary education in industry.
I t is the "p o lis h in g up”
which should fo llo w an education in the understanding o f
industry - - o f work.
p
Pages 23-29. Account o f what .Vomen’ s Bureau did rath er than what
was disoovsrad.
h
Page 23. "Adm inistrative Methods” .
tfhat are they?
they be?
(This part should be l e f t out)
hp
What should
Page 25. Seoond paragraph.
The "climax'' is given begore "tra g ic moments
and "moments o f la s t suspense."
Ksano was jh m irausTar
Pays One:
h
h
a
A ft
l * Purpose o f U. 3* Dept* to - " o f wage-earning women" e t c .
2* Study not covering " a l l In d u s tria l occupations a t Whioh the
three m illio n Negro working women o f the U* S . are
employed**
3* One hundred seventy p lan ts - • surveyed? Plants and in
d u stries "in v e stig a te d "*
4 . "Long-distance s tu d ie s ".
.That does th is mean?
5* Introduction is not supported by text o f report
Page Two:
AAA
1. Community problems studied and reocnmendationa, eto*
2* Bore than 50£ o f Negro wage-earners are women?
3* "With elementary education” eto.
Page Four:
1* Table poor - needs reconstruction.
p
Page live-.
1* Over 5*000 doing o f f lo e work in 16 o f f i c e s .
Government work
con stitu tes how much o f "oard f i l i n g * o le rk ln g " and "ty p is t*
stenographer" - "were found to be equal to any observed**
in what respects?
2* "A b a tto ir" m lspelled - oorreot i t .
Page Six*
Appreciated the"sh o rte r" working day*
Arm istice meant dism issal o f moat o f these workers.
"F o r m ajority" e to .
3here are fa c ts o f numbers in
plan ts since arm1st loo to show th is?
Page Seven:
Page B ig r t :
Workers seein g these advantages are o rgan isin g.
advantages due to organising?
h
h
Are
h
"Uany are s t i l l to be found".
Bow many?
"Are working under most O bjectionable conditions*
.That a re they?
h
Jnploymont managers "in v a ria b ly in s is te d upon h ir in g
only p re tty ty p es". Bow do you know?
h
Yagae.
"The working season being approximately
id e n tic a l with the school term ."
.
p
Pages iiight and Nine:
General opinion * without data.
Tobacco: Fearfully vague and unspeoiflo: Age, wage rate
available industries?
h
p
h
p
2
Page liin o s
fourteen: "Conditions apt to he" e t c .
h
I
i£&feteen;
h
I
Seventeen: (b j Organisation statement unsupported.
I
h
Kleveni
5
p
3
Paragraph on "h o te ls” fe a rfu lly vague and almost Im m aterial.
"These la tte r were afterw ard"
A fte r what?
General statements without d ata.
Eighteen: Paragraph Pour:
graph vague.
(d ) General opinion - without data.
Jtow oan you prove it?
h
Next para
P
Page Nineteen: "iiduoation".
Words I This la not fundamental
elomontary education in Industry.
I t is the "p o lis h in g up"
which should fb llo w an education in the understanding o f
industry - - o f work.
p
Pages 23-29. Account o f -tfiat Roman’ s bureau did ra th er than what
was discovered.
h
Page 23. "Adm inistrative Methods” .
What are they?
they be?
(This part should bol e f t out)
hp
What should
Sags 26. Second paragraph.
The "clim ax" is given begore "tra g ic moments"
and "moments o f la s t suspense."
"Addresses made at"
August 18, 1920.
¥. ft B .9. r..^a.AJLM. *
From: The D irector o f Negro Economics
To: The D irector o f the roman's Bureau
Subjectt D raft o f Beport o f E ra . H. B. Irv in
1 hare gone c a r e fu lly over 1'rs. Ir v in ’ s report and have a t
tached some d e ta ile d suggestions on s p e o ifio pages.
The re p o rt, as
a whole, has some good fig u re s and analyses o f what was found in the
plan ts v is it e d .
This p a rt , w ith re v is io n and separation from the
two other p arts mentioned below, could be put in shape f o r p u b lic a tio n ,
but i t would be quite b r i e f , - probably not more than ten o r twelve
pages.
Another part o f the report re la te s to remedial suggestions
and recommendations which were formulated and o ffe re d to in terested
p a rtie s by the represen tative o f the women’ s Bureau.
T h is, however,
has been summarised and mentioned on page 23 o f the D ire c to r’ s j i r s t
Annual Beport, end, i f Included in E re . I r v i n ’ s re p o rt, should probably
be sunmarlzed in two or three pages.
There are two or three accounts
o f successful experiments which were c a rrie d out fo llo w in g recommenda
tio n s.
These should be given.
I f the f i l e s o f th is m aterial d is
close any fu rth e r s im ila r accounts o f experiments, they should be
w ritte n up and included.
The th ird p art o f the re p o rt, which r e la t e s , m ainly, to
general community questions, contains, only here and there, statements
o f o b je c tiv e facts and con d ition s.
Such observations o n ly, o f th is
p art o f the re p o rt, should be retain ed .
Host o f the statements about the s itu a tio n o f Negro women in
Industry a f t e r the War are ra th er vague and in d e fin ite , and could be
supplemented by v i s i t s to the plan ts and the a c tu al gath erin g o f the
fa c ts as the f i r s t p a rt o f the report has them fo r the p eriod during
the War.
Use o f the m aterial may be made, to make i t a v a ila b le to
the p u b llo , in one o f two ways:
F ir s t , supplementary stu dies o f the
s itu a tio n o f Negro women in come o f the ty p ic a l centers oovered by
th is m aterial oould be made a t the present time by gathering the
fa c ts fo r comparison o f conditions.
Miss Shields oould gather some
2
Of th is m a te ria l.
This i s , to my mind, lo ss d e s ira b le than a second
a lt e r n a t iv e ,- namely, to c u ll out the u sable m aterial now mv * p u blish
i t e ith e r in a separate pamphlet or to combine i t with the b u lle t in
"The Negro at Work during the War and Beoonstruotlon", now on the p re s s .
I t oould be made a sp e c ia l sectio n o f th is b u lle t in w ith t i t l e and cred it
to lira . Ir v in and the Women's Bureau.
I s h a ll be glad to disouss th is
w ith you.
Tours r e s p e c t fu lly .
D ireotor o f Negro Economics,
h
P
Enclosure - accompanying.
Please f i l l out the blank spaces below and return this re p o rt, In
the oaolosed envelope, WHICH RSQJJIKBS BO K>3TA(3S, to the D irector
o f Hegro Scanomics, Department of Labor, W aA lngton, D.G,
1* Are there many Hegro workers out of employment in your county, to m
o r c it y (Please in dicate fey x nark whether oounty, town, o r o i ly )?
2. Have mazy Hegro workers been re lea se d during the past 30 days?
3, Please name the oootapations from sfalch they have been re lea se d ,
and, i f p o s s ib le , the exact number re le a se d from each occupation:
4.
I f Hegro workers have been re le a s e d , were they reemployed In other
occupations o r a re t h y id le in the ooraraunlty?
6.
Z f reemployed, p lea se name the occupations in to which t h y have been taken:
Womenj
7,
As f a r as p o ssib le give present p re v a ilin g wage* fey day o r seek in p rin o ip le
occupations in stoioh Hegroes are p rin c ip a lly engaged:
8.
I f p o s s ib le , p lease give on back o f t h is s&eet the names and ad d res.es o f
p lan ts and employers m o employ a considerable number o f Hegro w r it e r s ,
w ith approximate number employed in each p la n t.
H 1 H A R X 3:
Older "Remarks" p lease fu rn ish any inform ation which you think should
be b r e a s t to the atten tio n o f the Department o f Labor, I f neoeeaarv uae the
>jgfc o f ftU f fr e o t .
Information fuvnlahed b y ;_
Address i
Date:,_____________
(O ver)
<>
Ju ly 28, 1920
Dr. George JS. Hayses,
Holly Tree Inn,
Hampton Institute,
Hampton, Va.
My dear Dr. Haynes:
In a letter received today from Dr. Jtanett J .\soott.
reference to an artioie appearing in the July, 1920,
the "Southern Workman” which relates to you and your
I write you thus, Inasmuch as you are now at Hampton
easily procure a copy of the magazine.
Your8 very truly,
Special Agent
he makes
number of
work.
and can
f
b
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY
W A S H IN G T O N
July 24, 1920.
Dr. George 2. Haynes,
H olly Tree Inn,
Hampton In s titu te ,
Hampton, Va.
My dear Dr. Haynes:
In preparing the le tte r s o f inquiry to committeemen in the states,
I am lea vin g the Florida l i s t la s t fo r the reason that I want to
he sure that you wish to renew the work in Florida.
W ill you
please v e r ify your wish to make in qu iries in Florida.
Do you
not think i t best, fo r the present, to eliminate Florida on ac
count o f possible misunderstanding when committeemen make inqu iries,
as they must, o f Florida persons and plants?
Miss Campbell w i l l be back Monday morning, and I shall plan to take
an afternoon or two this week fo r a b it o f a rest.
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY
W A S H IN G T O N
Ju ly 24, 1920.
Dr. George E. Haynes,
Holly Tree Inn,
Hampton Institute,
Hampton, Va.
.
My dear Dr. Haynes;
In preparing the letters of Inquiry to committeemen in tho states,
I am leaving the Florida lis t last for tho roacoa that I want to
he sure that you wish to renew the work in yiorida.
W ill you
please verify your wish to make inquiries in Florida.
Do you
not think it beBt, for the present, to eliminate Florida on aoocunt of possible misur.ders tanding When committeemen make inquiries,
as they must, of Florida persons and plants?
Hiss Campbell w ill be baok Monday morning, and I shall plan to take
an afternoon or two this week for a bit of a rest.
Respeot fully,
Special Agent,
.' 6
i
h
P
H.JLHLA r a n d
p *
Iesuea, Joinder of - JDB-GEH
1. Declarat3on: U. S. Employment decides its polity in
ro recruiting of Negroes for the South.
Plea: Offloe of the Secretary apparently has had no
opportunity tc seek advice of Its Director of Negro Economics.
2. £. AdYice of Director General of U. S. &rrp. Serv. and his
federal Directors rocardlag operations of Hall and Jennifer
apparently takes precedence over that of the Office of the
Secretary of Labor and "makes their employment the same as a ll
employees of this (U. S. thrp.) Service."
Euoh a policy eliminates entirely any discrimination
in administration of these agents (Eall and JenniferJ but it at
once establishes a marked discrimination in their operations be
cause they were appointed "for the purpose of assisting in the
recruiting of Negro labor for the South", an operation of ob
vious delicateness because of the many peculiar conditions sur
rounding Negro labor, largely known to the Negro folk, only, and
obviously unknown to "a ll employees" of the U. S. Snp. 3erv.
(Attach Chicago Defender Editorial.)
3. J). The opinions of Hall and Jennifer apparently are the
sole guides as to the merits of any conditions stfiich toay be of
"interest" to the Director of Negro Economics.
more than
Secretary
regarding
powers of
The Director of Negro Soonomios is charged with
an "interest". He holds a conrrission from the
of Labor, whioh charges him with specifio duties
the functions of the Department of Labor and the
the Secretary of Labor.
.
4 J). The operations of agents Hall and Jennifer, so far
as the Director of Negro Economics is concerned, are alleged
to turn upon "the advantage to the Employment Service" and upon
suggestions regarding this advantage which the D. of N. E. might
make to the Director General.
It is the duty of the D. of N. E. to reoasnend to the
Secretary of Labor policies and plans not of any greater advantage
to the U. S. E. 8. than to any other branch of the D. S. Dept,
of Labor, and certainly, in no instance, anything which does not
have as its aim the general advantage to the publio in that the
functions of the Dept, of Labor, as imposed upon it by Congress,
2
shall be carried out.
Apparently this broad funotion overlaps
any peculiar advantage to any particular Service, departmental
or interdepartmental, and calls in every instance, where Negro
matters,«ire concerned, for the carrying out of the policies
outlined by the Secretary of Labor over one year ago.
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY
W A S H IN G T O N
July 20, 1920.
Dr. George E. Haynes,
•
D irector o f Negro Economics,
Hampton In s titu te ,
Hampton, Va.
ily dear Dr. Haynes:
In response to your inquiry regarding status o f b u lle tin , the
D ivision o f Publications and Uupplies advises that the b u lletin
is at the Government P rin tin g O ffic e , from which fir s t- p r o o f
copies are expected in due course.
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY
W A S H IN G T O N
R E C E IV E D
d epa r tm en t of labor
JUL 9
1920
Director of Negro Economics
DEPARTMENT
OF
LABOR
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY
W A S H IN G T O N
June 9, 1920.
Dr. George E. Haynes
D irector, Negro Economics
200 Auburn Avenue
A tlan ta, Georgia.
Dear Dr. Haynes:
Hr. Post reaffirm s d the arrangement s fo r your
s t a f f as given to me yesterday
Ha*. Goinpers. .
\
He has supplemented h is statement by saying
that steps shouli.be taken at once by the Children’ s 3ureau
and by the Toman’ s Bureau to pat out a report embodying mat
ters re la tin g to Negro children and ITegro women. He says this
report 3 h o u l 1 be gotten out in concrete form and made ready fo r
ea rly release throughout the Country.
He 3ays, a ls o , that you should begin at once to
prepare a b i l l fo r the perpetuation and permanency o f the Di• v is io n o f negro Economics. Thi3 b i l l , he says, should b<j in
troduced in Congress at the very e a r lie s t date and that a l l
possible action looking to it3 passage should be taxon, so
that on March 3, when the present arrangements have ceased,
moneys shall have been appropriated to carry forward the wo’ rk
from that date and during the future fis c a l years.
He says that he wants to see you without f a i l
the next time you are here. I understand that you w i l l be here
on the 16th. I t is possible that on the 17th, 18th and 19th
I shall be taking some examinations, fo r which I maie a op lication sometime ago.
P/jlIC
June 8, 1920.
Or* George D. Haynes,
Director of Kegro nconanios,
200 Auburn Avenue,
A tlan ta, On.
My dear Dr* Haynes:
The C hief C lerk o f the Department has Just c a lle d me into a
b r i e f conference and has Info need me o f the fo llo w in g arrange
ment regard in g the fin an cin g o f your work frcxn July 1, 1920, to
Uaroh 3, 1921:
Hwaarks
George M* Haynes
#*•100
Pending appointment on r o l l
to be designated by Secretary
aoman A ssistan t
#1*600
Semen's Bureau
M attie L, Campbell
Karl ?. P h illip s
1,000
#1,600
Bureau o f Labor S t a t is t io s
C h ildren 's Bureau
A ll these s a la r ie s carry bonus, w ith the p o s s ib le exoeptlon o f
the Women's Bureau item, says Mr* Dumpers, and in ease that ltsm
does not carry the bonus, Mr* Compere says ths s a la ry w i l l hare
to be increased.
Instructions have been issued to the respective c h iefs and th is
arrangement w i l l go into e ff e c t on July 1, 1920.
The Georetaiy
is handling your appointment.
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY
W A S H IN G T O N
June 8, 1920.
Dr. George 2. Haynes,
Director of Negro Economics,
200 Auburn Avenue,
Atlanta, Ga.
My dear Dr. Haynes:
The Chief Clerk of the Department has just called me into a
brief conference and has informed me of the following arrange
ment regarding the financing of your work from July 1, 1920, to
March 3, 1921:
Salary
Remarks
George E. Haynes
$2,100
Pending appointment on ro ll
to be designated by Secretary
Woman Assistant
$1,600
Women's Bureau
Mattie L. Campbell
Earl ?. Phillips
1,000
$1,500
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Children's Bureau
A ll these salaries carry bonus, with the possible exception of
the Women's Bureau item, says Mr. Compere, and in case that item
does not carry the bonus, Mr. Gompers says the salary w ill have
to be increased.
Instructions have been issued to the respective chiefs and this
arrangement w ill go into effect on July 1, 1920.
The Secretary
is handling your appointment.
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
TELEGRAM
P 0 .«.,.8
q
•
32 Govt
I® .. . . New York City, Jim* 5,1930.
^ feU lip s
Care Haynes Dept o f J^aor* Washington, X). C
Starting tun eight corning o ffic e to see Ifr Penemore
upon a rriva l*
Haynea, Special Agent.
11:3
/,//
R E C E IV E D
DEPARTMENT OF LABOn
JUN 5 ; J920
J)
t-tJ /9<^
_ (? M h
^
A .
J
June 3, 1920.
Sr* George £• Haynoe,
Director or liegro Jooncmios,
4L> iCbt lo th u tM
Sew York, U. 7*
Sear Sr* Haynes x
Mr* Deni more’s o fflo o stated that ac fo r as vc& known at th is tin e ,
an appointjuant f o r 4t3U Saturday afternoon would be agreeable to Mr.
Denamore, but that there was the p o s s ib i li t y that something mi J it
turn up which would provout i t - tliat lir* Doaaaore n l j i t leavo
town.
Yours ruspoot f u l l y .
i£spert - Bureau o f Labor S t a t is t ic e .
I
■ ■ i H
THE RACIAL QUESTION
“ The fu ndam ental basis upon w hich the race question
must be considered and determined is that the colored man
of the U n ited States is a citizen precisely as the w hite
man of the U n ited States is a citizen. Each is an A m eri
can ; each has proven his loyalty to the prin ciples fo r
w hich the flag stands; each has fonght its battles and
shared in its victories; and each is entitled to the equal
p ro tw tio n of the law in his life, in his property, and in
his liberty .
“ E q u ality o f opportunity, equality before the law , eq u a l
Ity in n h e siarljt of (Jod, and not equality
rulutLon~
_ g hin- is the demand and the rig'llt of the colored man.”
SPEECH
OF
H O N . S E L D E N P. S P E N C E R '
O F M IS S O U R I
IN THE
SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
SATURDAY. MAY 22. 1920
1
W ASH ING TO N
governm ent
182273—20883
p r in t in g
1020
o f f ic e
SPEECH
OP
IiO N
,
-
SELDEN
P.
SPENCER.
COMMISSION ON TH E RACIAL QUESTION.
Mr. SP E N C E R . Mr. President, I have introduced for the
consideration of the Senate a bill known as S. 4207, which is
now before the Committee on the Judiciary. I ask unanimous
consent that the bill may be incorporated in what I am about
to say.
The P R E S ID IN G O F F IC E R . I f there is no objection, it will
be so ordered.
•”■■■*
The bill (S . 4207) introduced by Mr. S pencer April 21, 1020,
and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, is as follows:
He It enacted, etc., That a commission of nine persons, citizens of the.
United States, be, and is hereby, created to be known and designated
as the Commission on the Uncial Question in the United States of
America.
The commission shall be composed of three white men from the
South, three white men from the North, and three colored men.
Sec. 2. That said commission shall be appointed by the President of
the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate,
and shall be divided into throe groups of three men in each group, two
white and one colored; that the term of the first group shall be for
one year, the second group for two years, and the third group for three
years.
.
Sec. 3. That the commission shall have authority to inquire into and
thoroughly Investigate the conditions surrounding the colored people
in the United States, ascertain, if possible, the cause of the unrest
among them, and, if there he racial friction, the cause of the same, and
to suggest such remedies as they may deem best calculated to relievo
the situation and to bring about harmonious relations between white
*3-.
and colored Americans.
They shall have power to send for persons and papers, administer
oaths and affirmations, employ experts, and, when necessary, travel
from place to place in order to ascertain the true conditions affecting
the interests of the colored people in different sections of the United
States.
Sec. 4. That the expense of the commission shall not exceed the sum
of $50,000 for any one fiscal year; to Include compensation of the
'‘commissioners when engaged in actual service of the commission not
* exceeding $15 per d a y r e n t a l of quarters if not otherwise provided l'or;
traveling expenses; clerk hire, and all other necessary expenses con
nected with the work of the commission.
The expenses of each coramissiqner, when in active service of the
commission, shall not exceed the sura of $7 per diem.
Sec. 5. That the commission shall report to Congress, at the begin
ning of each session in December, the findings of the commission for the
year in which the report is made, and shall also give an itemized
account of the expense of the commission during that year.
Sec. 6. That the commission shall have the power to fix the com
pensation of a secretary, not exceeding $3,600 per year, and to make
rules governing the procedure and workings of the commission.
2
182273—20383
3
Kec. 7. That the commission shall bo under the supervision of the
Secretary of the Interior, who shall approve all drafts upon the
Treasury, made by the authority of the commission, before they are
allowed.
Mr. SPE N C E R . Mr. President, this Hill relates to one of
the emergency problems with which our country has to (lo,
one that Involves alike our national welfare and that funda
mental justice which lias so signally characterized our history.
There are approximately 12,000,000'of the negro race In the
United States. In mere numbers, as in efficiency and patriot
ism, they are an essential part of American life. In some parts
of tiie Union they Outnumber the white race. The absolute
necessity of mutual' confidence and understanding and coopera
tion between the white race and the colored race needs only to
be stated in order to be at once recognized by both alike.
Tlte fundamental basis upon which.the race question must be
considered and determined is (lmt the colored man of the United
States is a citizen precisely as the white man of the United
States is a citizen. Each is an Am erican; each has proved his
loyalty to the principles for which our flag stands; each has
fought its battles and shared in its victories; and each is
entitled to the equal protection of the law in his life, in Ms
property, and in his liberty. Any attempt to deny this equal
right before the law is more of a disgrace to those who at
tempt it than it is to those who suffer by it.
On December 18, 1865, there was finally adopted the thir
teenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States,
which provided that—
Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment
for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist
within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate
legislation.
The first State to ratify this amendment was the Republican
State o f Illinois, which ratified it on the same day on which
it wits submitted to the States by Congress— February 1, 1805—
and there followed in rapid succession a number of Republican
Stntes. The last State to ratify It was Georgia, on December
9, 1865, though six States ratified it after it had become a part
of the Constitution.
.»
T H E NEGRO AS T H E O W N E R OB’ PRO PERTY.
Since that time the negroes of the United States have ac
quired property worth more than $1,000,000,000.
They have acquired lands exceeding 21,000,000 acres, an
area greater than the entire State of South Carolina, and culti
vate an equal amount in addition, owning; or renting approxi
mately two-thirds o f the cultivated la n d 'o f the South. The
182273—20883
4
50 years of progress of the negro race In the United States has
surpassed any progress under any like circumstances in the
history of the world.
When the Russian serfs were emancipated in 1801, they hitd
in 50 years accumulated approximately $36 for each Individual,
amounting in the aggregate to perhaps a half a hill ion dollars.
The negroes, in the first 50 years o f their freedom, acquired
nearly double that amount— $70 for each individual, with an
aggregate of $700,000,000.
The real estate which the negro has acquired is a perma
nent investment.
Tiie negro is a home-acquiring race. The census of 1010
shows that 506,500 homes were owned hy negroes, of which
221,535 were farm houses and 285,055 were homes in the city.
The census of 1920, following the same ratio as In previous
years, will undoubtedly show more than 000,000 homes owned
by negroes.
The negro has established more than 50,000 successful business
enterprises. One hundred insurance companies are owned hy
negroes. Banks doing an annual business of $20(000,000 and
with a capitalization of nearly $2,000,000 mark their activity
in linanee.
TU B NEOBO IX WAS.
*
In the war, of men selected by the draft, 71.(50 per cent of
the negroes were accepted, and 00.71 per cent of the whites
were accepted. The first soldiers of the American Army deco
rated for bravery were two negroes, Henry Johnson and Needhum Roberts, of the Three hundred and sixty-ninth Infantry,
which was formerly the Fifteenth New York Notional Guard.
Four whole negro regiments, the Three hundred and sixtyninth, Three hundred and seventieth, Three hundred and sev
enty-first, and the Throe hundred and seventy-second, and the
First Battalion of another negro regiment, the Three hundred
and sixty-seventh,' were awarded the croix do guerre for hero
ism in action. In addition, there were some 400 individual
medals of honor granted to negroes for bravery In action. This
statement, made by Robert It. Moton, principal of Tuslcegee
Institute, at the American Sociological Congress, In May, 1020,
gives striking evidence of the patriotism and loyalty which has *
so nobly characterized this part of our citizenship.
The negroes provided $225,000,000 for Liberty loan and warwork activities. There was a contribution of $100,000 by a
wealthy negro farmer, David It. Raines, of Louisiana. There
was one contribution of 15 cents, which was the entire worldly
wealth of Gilbert Denham, an 87-year-old negro of Greenville, Ala.
Three hundred thousand negroes, with cheerfulness and eifi-
182273—20883
5
oiency and with songs and laughter, worked long hours and
oftentimes in mud up to their knees as stevedores, unloading
and transmitting supplies and ammunition without which the
American Army could not have existed.
T H E NEGRO IN EDUCATION AT. AN D P R O F E S S IO N A L LUTE.
In education, 300 counties are employing colored supervis
ing industrial teachers with au nunuul pay roll of $292,752
fitting teachers to take care of the small country school.
In 1910 there were 29,727 negro teachers, 31,902 negro min
isters, 3,409 physicians and surgeons, 478 dentists, and 7,056 in
other occupations, making a total of over 70,000 in professional
life.
To-day more than 40,000 teachers are presiding over
schools, in which 2,000.000 negro children are enrolled.
In the ministry their eloquence in the preaching of their gos
pel and their fidelity to the exacting duties of this high office is
perhaps best illustrated by the confidence and reverence of the
constantly increasing number to whom they minister. More
than $08,000,000 havo been, with much sacrifice, invested in
permanent church property.
In law every lurge community recognizes and appreciates the
existence aud the exceeding helpfulness in the administration
o f the lavy o f the negro lawyer who with the years acquires
greater confidence and cooperation in the profession.
In medicine, not alone in the general practice among their
race in the alleviation of the suffering and the remedying of
disease and injury, but as well in the fields of research and
medical literature the negro has taken a place of prominence
almost incredible in its importance when it is remembered the
comparatively short time in which this as well as other avenues
of professional life have been freely and fully opened to him.
More than 1,000 putents have issued to him and speak with no
uncertainty of his part in that inventive genius which lias so
conspicuously been manifested in the history of our country.
Five hundred newspapers and periodicals are edited and pub
lished by negroes in an ever-enlarging determination to keep
their race informed of current events and of governmental and
general principles with which every citizen ought to lie fsmilinr.
The race problem is no more the negro problem than it is
the white man’s problem. It affects both alike, and upon Us
right solution depends the welfare of each race, as well as in no
small decree the stability of our Nation. It is not the problem
of tbe South any more than it Is the problem o f the North.
The mere fact that a large majority of the colored population of
the country live in the South does not in any sense make it a
southern problem.
.
182272—20883
G
I f disease and lawlessness and ignorance are allowed to exist
in one part of the country, its contagion will rapidly spread to
all parts of the country. No section of (lie United States can
permit a recognized wrong to exist without affecting the whole
Nation as well as itself.
. Every time ij negro is treated unjustly, precisely as is true .
when a white man is treated unjustly, it affects the whole body
politic, and if that injustice spreads and becomes a habit, it
presents a serious national problem.
The inequality in the provision for the education of the two
races in some sections of the country is appalling. In 1911 and
1912 the figures which 1 have been able to obtain indicate that
the average amount spent iu the South for education of chil
dren between the ages of 6 and 14 was $10.32 fo r win to children
and $2.89 for black children. The greatest discrepancy was in
Louisiana,- where $13.73 was spent for every white child and
only $1.31 for each black child.
The report of the United States Commissioner of Education
fo r 1916 shows that S7.2 per cent of the amount spent for agri
cultural and vocational training in the South was used for
white men, and but 12.8 per cent to increase the working effi
ciency of the negro.
.
The result in illiteracy is to be expected; 48.4 per cent of the
colored population is illiterate, against 14.4 per cent of illiteracy
among the white population, and yet in the half century just
past the general per cent of illiteracy among the negro race
in the United States has been reduced from 05 per cent to about
30 per cent
Education, fair lubor conditions, and full opportunity for per
sonal development, together with condemnation and prevention
of lynching, protection of the home, and of the ballot are the
fair demands of the negro.
The same method of reformation and opportunity should be
opened to the younger colored boy and girl, who offends for the first time against the law, as is open to the white boy or girl
under similar circumstances.
Equality of opportunity, equality before the law, equality
in the sight of God, and not equality in social relationship is the
demand and the right of the colored man.
The intelligent colored man is ns much determined to pre
serve the Integrity of his race as is the intelligent white man.
Undoubtedly there are radical, hate-engendered utterances
made by colored men in the excitement of race discrimination,
but they are tio more Indicative of the sentiment of the great >
body of the negro people than are the same kind of utterances
of which wo read with indignation and anxiety when uttered
182273—20883
7
by white men. There must be a recognition of the rights of
(he colored man as a condition to the fair and permanent solu
tion of the raott'question.
The church, the school, the development of Industrial and
agricultural life, the ■playgrounds for colored children, and the.
legitimate recreations for colored adults arc factors neither to
be overlooked nor hampered.
As Bishop Calloway once stated :
Tlie race question is not a question for small politicians, but for
broad-minded patriotic statesmen. It. Is not for theorists, but. for
clear-visioned humanitarians. All our dealings with the negro should
he in the spirit of the Man of Onlilee.
The race question is not u political question; it is an American
question.
The railroads have no more right to furnish to negro patrons
at precisely the same cost per mile of travel Accommodations
of an inferior quality than that which they furnish to a white
man than the grocer or druggist lias to furnish to the colored
man at precisely the same price an inferior article to that which
lie sells to the white man. Equal accommodation, not joint use
of cars, is the demand.
The colored boy lias precisely the same right to an education
that the white boy has.
His treatment in the courts, both by trial and by punishment,
ought to be lnfiuenerd alone hy the same considerations as are
used in connection with the trial and punishment of white men.
There is a need and a place for the colored man on the farm,
in the siiop, in the school. There Is a need of the colored doctor,
tlie colored lawyer, the colored minister, the colored teacher, the
colored professional man in every vocation of life precisely as
there is a need of white men in similar occupations.
You can not make the white man happy hy making the negro
unhappy, nor can you safeguard the virtue of one race hy de
stroying the virtue of another. You can not deal unjustly with
the black man without an equally deteriorating effect upon the
white man.
The negro is essentially religious and patriotic and in these
two approaches Is the path to the solution of the race ques
tion. There is equality in the sight of God and there is
equality before the law, and neither of these opens the door in
the slightest way to an impairment of the integrity of either
the white or the colored race.
The colored man has a pride, in his race, in its history, and
in its achievement, and a hope and confidence for its future
which is, and by right ougtit to be, the equal of (lie pride of
tlie white man in his race and in the hope of its future.
1S2273—20SS3
8
finite force or superiority in numbers furnishes no basis fo r a
violation of the rights of the weak or of the minority. W e
must consider the negro as an American, with constitutional
guaranties of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, pre
cisely equal to those same guaranties in the case o f the white man.
Punishment for wrongdoing ought to be as prompt and severe
with the colored wrongdoer as with the white wrongdoer, but
there is no justification either in history or in result for lawless
punishment of either white or black any more (ban (here is any
justification for either a direct or a camouflaged violation of
the constitutional right which the colored man has to vote and
to have his vote counted.
I f the colored man is deemed worthy to carry a rifle in the
defense of his country and to risk his life for the honor of his
nation, who shall say that he is unworthy to cast a ballot in the
government of that nation whose life he has helped to preserve?
These principles lie at the foundation of the consideration
and determination of the racial question in the Nation. It is a
question that must be settled, and it must be settled right
More than 1 out of every 10 in the United States is a col
ored Individual, and every reason of national welfare demands
a fail-, sane consideration of the question. It is useless to close
our eyes to llie fact that there is a widespread feeling of dis
content and of hatred in the hearts of the colored citizens of
the United States. Much of this is occasioned by misunder
standing; some of it is entirely well founded.
The question can never be adequately solved without repre
sentation of the white man of the South in its solution. The
white man of the South lias been longest identified with the
colored man, is more fam iliar with his characteristics, and
when lie approaches the solution of the question, apart from
prejudice, lie is apt to propose the wisest and sanest plan.
In any body that deals with the question there must, of
course, be the representatives of the colored race itself. B y
every right of representation, by every recognition of educa
tional advancement, by every reason of common fairness they
should and they must have a part in the consideration and de
termination of the question which has to do with tlieir own race.
J he white man of the North, while la d in g in experience in
the question, has the advantage of a certain impartiality, and
#the combination of the white man of the South and the white
man of the Nortli and the colored man produces the commis, sion which ought to consider this question. It is precisely such
a commission that is provided for in the Senate bill.
182273—203S3
o
/
DEPARTMENT
OF
LABOR
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY
W A S H IN G T O N
May 18, 1920
Mr. K arl P h i l l i p s ,
Negro Economics D iv is io n ,
Department o f Labor,
Washington, d . 0.
Dear Mr. P h i l l i p s :
Please take at once to Mr. Post copy of the hearings
b e fo re the A p p ro p ria tion Committee and the C ongressional
Record Pages with the' d isc u ssio n on the f l o o r o f the House.
He asked yesterday to see them.
Yours v ery t r u ly ,
03H/AL
d ir e c t o r o f Negro A0onomics
{p / < jw v r
yAtfxjUi*'
f
f
/
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
TELEGRAM
6Po - Da.
Mr. Phillip a,
Department of Labor,
Washington.
Your telegram of the 15th addressed, to Dr. Geo. E. Haynas
director Negro Economics care A. M. E? Conference, Knoxville, Tenn.,
has not been delivered for the reason party said to be in Washington
Postal Tel Co.,
Washington, D. C. May 15, 1920
May 17, 1920. - .9:08 A.M.
Expert -
Doraau o f la b o r
ta t la t las
''*# 15, 1920.
Or* iiaorga a* iiaynee.
D irecto r iiagro Jconocio#,
Oar» 4kc. Jonforonca,
0VJFI01A1. BSSJBUS8 - UOTX:i2i!fii2sI ka? v
i^aoxvilla, Vann.
I n i k
Jeaate hearing oontinuod Monday morning'.
fly a ll couaa ocns.
PHILLIPS,
E x p o r t ,
O ff1oa o f tho Oocrotaiy
3ontingant jxpwnaea 1920
-*xmoialo».
ROBERT LANSING, Chairman General Committee
JOHN R. MOTT, Chairman Executive Committee
FRED B. SMITH, Vice-Chairman
WILLIAM HIRAM FOULKES. Vice-Chairman
GEORGE M. FOWLES, Treasurer
WILLIAM B. MILLAR, Secretary
Interchurch W orld M ovement
OF
HOME MISSIONS SURVEY
DEPARTM ENT
45 West 18th Street
A ME RI CA
NEW Y O R K
CITY
S. EARL TAYLOR, General Secretary
RALPH E. D1FFENDOREER
NORTH
May 13, 1920.
Mr. Karl F. P h i l l i p s ,
Department of Labor,
Negro Sconomics,
.ashington D. G.
Dear Mr. P h i l l i p s :
Your wire, dated May 12, sent
at 4:15 P M, has j u s t been received at ten o 'c lo c k today.
wired
Same has been
Dr. Haynes, St. L o u is ; Mo.
Also your telegram
dated the
12th was forwarded yesterday,
to same
address.
Yours very tru ly
Gen. N o. 1
OFFICIAL
TELEGRAM
BUSINESS
D EP AR T ME NT
FROM
JlYlsion of
OF
GOVERNMENT
RATE.
LABOR
ietmcaiaa.
Washington,
(bureau or”officej".............
Hay 12 , i
3.
Jlrw otor Xegrc ieorHwica
Taro o f Ihfcorohcnsh Worli
Zoromont
45 .eat 10th >tpeat
Hea Tortt City*
Ittaortant yo * iih'nl1 bo hero tnl^y
a n l to-morrow.
’mreau Lhbcr .tatl itlca.
Offloo of *:hr ‘. oot taiy
TentIndent iCxjjanaea, 1920.
C h a r g e De p a r t m e n t
of
L abo r . A pp r o p r ia t io n
for
14— 171
Hay 12, 1920
M s s A. H* lyons,
o/o Or. deorge jS. Haynes,
Interchuroh World idovament,
Sew York, H. Y.
Hy dear k is s Oyong:
I thank you fo r your l e t t e r o f Kay 8, in d icatin g Dr. Haynes'
present it in e r a r y .
I f i t is ohanged between now and the 24th
I 3 h a li thank you o r M a s BLanley so to advise me.
Yours very tr u ly ,
Assistant - Oirector of Negro ISconcasics
DEPARTMENT
OF
LABOR
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY
W A S H IN G T O N
May 12, 1920.
S t a t e m e n t Action taken by Karl ?. P h illip s - TODAY
L o jro economics appropriation strick en out on point o f order.
1.
Conference
Conferende
Conference
Conference
Conference
Conference
Conference
Subjects;
-
l ir . John 3. Deasmore
The Secretary, H r. Oenanore, E lse Anderson
Hr. R. H. le a v e llo
H r. Charles £. H all
A ssistan t Secretary Post
H r. Prank Byron
H r. Luther C. Steward
Appropriations - Nolan .'.age B i l l - Lirainum
wage laundry workers.
House procedure - Senate procedure.
2.
Correspondence - Wrote Haynes
'Wired Haynes
Mired H a g ill
Prepared chart o f expenses
Wrote southern S o c io lo g ic a l Congress
Wrote United C ivic League
Wrote .-heeling N. A. A. C. P.
Prepared d igest fo r secretary
Prepared l e t t e r o f transm ittal fo r secretary
Prepared k e y -lis t f o r Luther C. Steward
Irepared memorandan fo r senator Colder
3.
Hlspellflnepus:
Wrote UcCracken
Investigated percentage o f increase o f
Hegro fans operators fo r Mrs. Haynes
Unable to reach Dr. NoCullooh - w i l l try
Hay 13th.
No responses from le t t e r s o r v ir e s to Dr.
Ilaynes.
October 21, 1920,
Or. George £. Haines,
Direotor of LJegro ifconomioe,
212 Bank btreet,
Newark, Li. J.
Ly dear nr* Haynes:
Herewith* I enolose prepared release and manuscript.
1 note that
the manuscript ie composGd both o f carbons and o r ig in a ls , and in fe r
that the copy you have is incomplete.
Hence, I tar, hart ©ring to
ccnd you copy which should reach you early tomorrow morning.
A l l Instruction: have been follow ed to completion.
Yours respQct;ftilly,
Special Agent.
Haclosures
DEPARTMENT
OF
LABOR
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY
W A S H IN G T O N
S t a t e m e n t
-
Action taken by Karl P. P h illip s - ''.’QUAY
Negro Lconomics appropriation stricken out on point o f order.
1.
Conference
Conference
Conference
Conference
Conference
Conference
Conference
Subjects;
-
L r. John 3. Densmore
The Secretary, L r. Densmore, Liss Anderson
Lr. B. H. Leavelle
L r. Charles N. Hall
Assistant Secretary Post
L r. Prank 3yron
L r. Luther C. Steward
Appropriations - Nolan ..age S i l l - Limimum
wage laundry 'workers.
House procedure - Senate procedure.
2.
Correspondence - Wrote Haynes
Wired Haynes
Wired L a g ill
Prepared chart o f expenses
wrote Southern S ooiologioal Congress
Wrote United Civic league
..rote wheeling IJ. A. A. C. P.
Prepared digest fo r Secretary
Prepared l e t t e r o f transm ittal for secretary
Prepared k e y -lis t fo r Luther C. Steward
Prepared memorandum fo r Senator Calder
3.
Liscollcuieous:
'Wrote LcCracken
Investigated percentage o f increase o f
Negro farm operators fo r Lrs. Haynes
Unable to reach Dr. LcCulloch - w ill try
Lay 13th.
No responses from le tte rs or wires to Dr.
Haynes
THE RACIAL QUESTION
“ The fundam ental basis upon which the race question
must he considered and determ ined is that the colored man
of the U nited States is a citizen precisely as the white
man of the U nited States is a citizen. Each is an A m eri
can ; each has proven his loyalty to the principles fo r
w hich the flag stands; each has fought its battles and
shared in its victories; and each is entitled to the equal
protection of the la w in his life, in his property, and in
Ills lib erty .
“ E q u ality of opportunity, equality before the law , eq u a l
ity in the sight of tied, and not equality in social re latio n
ship, is the demand and the rig h t of the colored man.”
. SPEECH
OF
H O N . S E L D E N P. S P E N C E R
O F M IS S O U R I
IN THE
SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
SATURDAY, MAY 22. 1920
¥
WASHINGTON
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
1020
182273— 20883
I
SPEECH
'
iiOn .
s el de n
OF
r.
spencer.
COMMISSION ON TTIF. RACIAL QUESTION.
Mr. SP E N C E R . Mr. President, I have introduced for the
consideration of the Senate a bill known as S. 4267, which is
now before the Committee on the Judiciary. I ask unanimous
consent that the bill may be incorporated in what I am about
to say.
The P R E S ID IN G O F F IC E R . I f there is no objection, it will
be so ordered.
The bill (S . 4267) introduced by Mr. S p e n c e r April 21, 1920,
and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, is as follows:
Be it enacted, etc., That a commission of nine persons, citizens of the
United States, be, and is hereby, created to be known and designated
ns the Commission on the Racial Question in the United Slates of
America.
The commission shall be composed of three' white men from the
South, three white men from the North, and three colored men.
Sec. 2. That said commission shall be appointed by the President of
the United States, by and wlih the advice and consent of the Senate,
and shall be divided into three groups of three men in each group, two
white and one colored ; that the term of the first gronp •shall be for
one year, the second group for two years, and the third group for three
years.
Sec. 3. That the commission shall have authority to inquire iuto and
thoroughly Investigate the conditions surrounding the colored people
in the United States, ascertain, if possible, the cause of the unrest
among them, and, if there be racial friction, the cause of the same, and
to suggest such remedies* as they may deem best calculated to relievo
the situation and to bring about harmonious relations between white
and colored Americans.
They shall have powfcr to send for persons and papers, administer
oaths and affirmations, employ experts, and, when necessary, travel
from place to place In order to ascertain the true conditions affecting
the interests of the colored people in different sections of the United
States.
.
S e c . 4. That the expense of the commission shall not exceed the sum
of $50,000 for any one fiscal y ear; to include compensation of the
commissioners when engaged in actual service of the commission not
exceeding $15 per day; rental of quarters if not otherwise provided for;
traveling expenses; clerk hire, and all other necessary expenses con- .,
nected with the work of the commission.
The expenses of each commissioner, when in active service of £he
commission, shall not exceed the sum of $7 per diem.
Sec. 5. That the commission shall report to Congress, at the begin
ning of each session in December, the findings of the commission for the
year in which the report is made, and shall also give an itemized
account of the expense of the commission during that year.
Sec. 0. That the commission shall have the power to fix the com
pensation of a secretary, not exceeding $3,000 per year, and to make
rules governing the procedure and workings of the commission.
2
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Sec. 7. That 'the commission shall be under the supervision of the
Secretary of the Interior, who shall approve all drafts upon the
Treasury, made by the authority of the commission, before they are
allowed.
Mr. SPE NC E R . Mr. President, this bill relates to one of
the emergency problems with which our country has to do,
one that involves alike our national welfare and that funda
mental justice which lias so signally characterized our history.
There are approximately 12,000,000 of the negro race in the
United States. In more numbers, as in efficiency and patriot
ism, they are an essential part of American life. In some parts
of the Union they outnumber the white race. The absolute
necessity of mutual confidence and understanding and coopera
tion between the white race and the colored race needs only to
be stated In order to bo at once recognized by both alike.
Tlie fundamental basis upon which the race question must be
considered and determined Is that the colored man of the United
States is a citizen precisely as the white man of the United
States is a citizen. Each is an American; each has proved his
loyalty to the principles fo r which our flag stands; each has
fought its battles and shared in its victories; and each Is
entitled to the equal protection of the law in ids life, in his
property, and in his liberty. Any attempt to deny this equal
rigid before the law is more of a disgrace to those who at
tempt it than It is to those who suffer by it.
On December IS, 1865, there was finally adopted the thir
teenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States,
which provided that—
Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment
for crime whereof the party.shnll have been duly convlcled, shall exist
within the United States, or any place subject to they- jurisdiction.
Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate
legislation.
The first State to ratify this amendment wa? the Republican
State of Illinois, which ratified it on the same day on which
it was submitted to the States by Congress— February 1,1865—
and there followed in rapid succession a number of Republican
Slates. The last State tq ratify it was Georgia, on December
9, 1865, though six States ratified it after it had become a part
of the Constitution.
T 11B NEGRO AS 'I’ llB OW NER OP PRO PERTY.
Since that time the negroes of the United States have ac
quired property worth more than $1,000,000,000.
They have acquired lands exceeding 21,000,000 acres, an
area greater than the entire State of Soutli Carolina, and cvfitlvate an equal amount in addition, owning or renting approxi
mately two-thirds of the cultivated land of the South. The
182273—20883
50 year# of progress of (he negro race in the United States has
surpassed any progress under any like elrcuinstances In the
history of the world.
When the Russian serfs were emancipated in 1861, they had
in 50 years accumulated approximately $3(3 for each individual,
amounting In the aggregate to perhaps a half a billion dollars.
The negroes, in the first 50 years of their freedom, acquired
nearly double that amount— $70 for each individual, with an
aggregate of $700,000,000.
The real estate which the negro lias acquired is a perma
nent Investment.
•
The negro is a home-acquiring race. The census of 1910
shows that 500,590 homes were owned by negroes, of which
221,585 were farm houses and 285,053 were homes in the city.
The census of 1020, following the same ratio as In previous
years, will undoubtedly show more than 600,000 homes owned
by negroes.
The negro has established more than 50,000 successful business
enterprises. One hundred insurance companies are owned by
negroes. Banks doing an annual business of $20,0011,000 and
with a capitalisation of nearly $2,000,000 mark their activity
in finance.
,
T H E NECBO IX W AR.
■
In the war, of men selected by the draft, 74.00 per cent of
the negroes were accepted, and 60,71 per cent of the whites
were accepted. The til'st soldiers of the American Army deco
rated for bravery were two negroes, Henry Johnson and Need
ham Roberts, of the Three hundred and sixty-ninth Infantry,
which was formerly the Fifteenth New York National Guard.
Four whole negro regiments, the Three hundred and sixtyninth, Three hundred and seventieth, Three hundred and sev
enty-first, and the Three hundred arid seventy-second, and the
First Battalion of another negro regiment, the Thrye hundred
and sixty-seventh, were awarded the crolx de guerre for hero
ism lu action. In addition, there were some 460 individual
medals of honor granted to negroes for bravery in action. This
statement, made by Robert It. Mo toll, principal of Tuskegee
Institute, at ttie American Sociological Congress, In May, 1920,
gives striking evidence of the patriotism and loyalty which lias
so nobly characterized this part of our citizenship.
The negroes provided $225,000,000 for Liberty loan and warwork activities. There was a contribution of $100,000 b_v a
wealthy negro farmer, David It. Raines, of Louisiana. There
was one contribution of 15 cents, which was the entire worldly
wealth o f Gilbert Dedham, an 87-year-old negro of Greenville, Ala.
Three hundred thousand negroes, with cheerfulness and etH-
1S2273—20883
5
ciency anti with songs and laughter, worked long hours and
oftentimes In mud up to tlaeir knees as stevedores, unloading
and transmitting supplies and ammunition without which the
American Army could not have existed.
T H B NKCItO IN E D U C ATIO N AL AND H IO K E S S IO N A L L IF E .
In education, 300 counties are employing colored supervis
ing industrial teachers with an annual pay roll of $292,752
fitting teachers to take care of the small country school.
In 1910 there were 29,727 negro teachers, 34,962 negro min
isters, 3,400 physicians and surgeons, 478 dentists, and 7,056 in
other occupations, making a total of over 7W,000 in professional
life.
To-day more than 40,000 teachers are presiding over
schools, in which 2,006,000 negro children are enrolled.
In the ministry their eloquence in the preaching of their gosI>el and their fidelity to the exacting duties of lids high olfiee is
perhaps best illustrated by the confidence and reverence of the
constantly increasing number trt whom they minister. More
than $88,060,000 have been, with much sacrifice, invested in
permanent church property.
»
In law every large community recognises and appreciates the
existence and the exceeding helpfulness in the administration
of the law of tile negro lawyer who with the years acquires
greater confidence and cooperation In the profession.
In medicine, not alone in the general practice among their
race in the alleviation of the suffering and the remedying of
disease and injury, but as well in the fields of research and
medical literature the negro has taken a place o f prominence
almost Incredible in Ks importance when it is remembered the
comparatively short time In which this as well as other avenues
of professional life have boon freely and fully opened to him.
More than 1,000 patents have ifsued to him and speak with no
uncertainty of Ids part in that inventive genius which has so
conspicuously been manifested in the history of our country.
Five hundred newspapers and periodicals are edited and pub
lished by negroes in an ever-enlarging determination to keep
their race informed of current events and of governmental and
general principles with which every citizen ought to be familiar.
The race problem IS no more the negro problem than It Is
the white man's problem. It affects both alike, and upon Its
right solution depends the welfare of each race, as welt as In no
small degree the stability of our Nation. It is not the problem
o f the South any more than it is the problem of the North.
The mere fact that a largo majority of the colored population o f
the country live in the South does not in any sense make it a
southern problem.
182273— 20S83
G.
I f disease and lawlessness and ignorance are allowed to exist
in one part of the country, its contagion will rapidly spread to
all parts of the country. No section of the United States can
permit a recognized wrong to exist without affecting the whole
Nation as well as itself.
Every time a negro is treated unjustly, precisely as is true
when a white man is treated unjustly, it affects the whole body
politic, and if that injustice spreads and becomes a habit, it
presents a serious national problem.
The iue<inality in the provision for the education of the two
races in some sections of the country is appalling. In 1911 and
1912 the figures which I have been able to obtain iudicute that
tlie average amount spent in the South Ifor education of chil
dren between the nges of 6 and 14 was $10.32 for white children
and $2.89 for black children. The greatest discrepancy was in
Louisiana, where $13.73 was spent for every white child and
only $1.31 for each black child.
The report of the United States Commissioner of Education
for 1910 shows that 87.2 yer cent of (lie amount spent for agri
cultural and vocational training in the South was used for
white men, and but 12.8 per cent to increase the working effi
ciency of the negro.
The result In Illiteracy is to be expected; 4S.4 per cent of the
colored population Is illiterate, against 14.4 per cent of illiteracy
among the white population, and yet in the half century just
past the general per cent of illiteracy among the negro race
in the United States has been reduced from 95 per cent to about
30 per cent.
Education, fair labor conditions, and full opportunity for per
sonal development, together with condemnation and prevention
of lynching, protection of the home, and of the ballot are the
fa ir demands of the negro.
The same method of reformation and opportunity should be
opened to the younger colored boy and girl, who offends for the
first time against the law, as is open to the white boy or girl
under similar circumstances.
Equality of opportunity, equality before the law, equality
in the sight of God, and not equality in social relationship is the
demand and the right of the colored man.
The intelligent colored man is as much determined to pre
serve the integrity of his race as is the intelligent white man.
Undoubtedly there are radical, hate-engendered utterances
made by colored men in the excitement of race discrimination,
but they are no more indicative o f the sentiment of the great
body of the negro people than are the same kind of utterances
o f which we read with indignation and anxiety when uttered
182273—20883
,
•
.
7
by white men. There must be n recognition of the rights of
the eolored man as a condition to the fair and permanent solu
tion of the race question.
The church, tlte school, the development of Industrial and
agricultural life, the playgrounds for colored children, and the
legitimate recreations for colored adults are factors neither to
he overlooked nor hampered.
As Bishop Calloway once stated:
The race question if not a question for small politicians, but for
broad-minded patriotic statesmen. It i» not for theorists, but for
clear-visioned humanitarians. All our dealings with the negro should
be In the spirit of the Man of Galilee.
The race question is not a political question ; it Is an American
question.
The railroads have no more right to furnish to negro palrons
at precisely flic same cost per mile of travel accommodations
of an inferior quality than that which they furnish to a white
man than the grocer or druggist has to furnish to Ihe colored
man at precisely the same price an inferior article to that which
lie sells to the white man. Equal accommodation, not joint use
of cars, is the demand.
•
The cotored hoy has precisely the same right to an education
that the white boy has.
His treatment in the courts, both by trial and by puuishmcnt,
ought to be Influenced alone by the same considerations as are
used in connection with the trial and punishment of white men.
There Is a need and a place for the colored man on the farm,
in the shop, in the school. There is a need of the colored doctor,
the colored lawyer, the colored minister, the colored teacher, the
colored professional man in every vocation of life precisely as
there Is a need of white men in similar occupations.
You can not make the white man happy by making the negro
unhappy, nor can yoiy safeguard-the virtue of one race by de
stroying the virtue of another. You can not deal unjustly with
the black man without an equally deteriorating effect upon the
white man.
.
The negro Is essentially religious and patriotic and in these
two approaches is the path to the solution of the race ques
tion. There is equality in the sight of God and there is
equality before the law, and neither of these'opens the door in
the slightest way to an Impairment of the Integrity of either
the white or the colored race.
The colored man has a pride in ids race, in its history, and
in its achievement, and a hope and confidence for its future
which is, and by right ought to be, the equal of the pride of
ttie white man in his race and in the hope of its future.
1811273— 20SS3
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8
Brute force or superiority in numbers furnishes no basis for a
violation of tlw rights of the weak or of the minority. W e '
must consider the negro as an American, with constitutional
guaranties of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, pre
cisely equal to those same guaranties in the case of the white man.
Punishment for wrongdoing ought to be as prompt and severe
with the colored wrongdoer as with the white wrongdoer, but
there is no justification either in history or in result for lawless
punishment of either white or black any more than there is any
justification for either a direct or a camouflaged violation of
the constitutional right which the colored man has to vote and
to have his vote counted.
,
I f the colored man is deemed worthy to carry n rifle in the
defense of his country and to risk Ids life for the honor of Ids
nation, who shall say that he is unworthy to cast a.ballot in the
government of that nation whose life he has helped to preserve?
These principles lie at the foundation of the consideration
and determination of the racial question in the Nation. It is a
question that must be settled, and it must be settled right.
More than 1 out of every 10 in the United' States is a col
ored individual, and every reason of national welfare demands
a fair, sane consideration of the question. It is useless to close
our eyes to the fact that there Is a widespread feeling of dis
content and of hatred in the hearts of the colored citizens of
the United States. Much of tins is occasioned ’by misunder
standing; some of it is entirely well founded.
The question can never be adequately solved without repre
sentation of the white man of the South in its solution. The
white man of the Soutli has been longest identified witli the
colored man, is more familiar with bis characteristics, and
when he approaches the solution of the question, apart from
prejudice, he is apt to propose the wisest and sanest plan.
In any body that deals with the question there must, of
course, be the representatives of the colored race itself. By
every rlglit of representation, by every recognition of educa
tional advancement, by every reason of common fairness they
. should and they must have a part in the consideration and de
termination of tlie question whieh has to do with their own race.
The white man of the North, while lacking in experience in
the question, has the advantage of a certain Impartiality, and
the combination of the white man of the South and tiie white
man of the North aud the colored man produces tlie commis
sion which ought to consider this question. It Is precisely such
a commission that is provided for in the Senate bill.
1 8 2 2 T3— 20883
o
General
National Archives
Services
and
Administration Records Service Washington, DC 20408
The Records in th is fo ld e r are in CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER with the
e a r lie s t dated document at the back o f the fo ld e r and the la te s t
dated document at the fro n t.
In order to make e ffe c t iv e use o f
Special L is t 40, Selected Documents Pertaining to Black Workers
Among the Records o f the Department o f Labor and I t s Component
Bureaus, 1902-1969. i t is essen tial to maintain the chronological
order o f the records.
@FedFRASER