The Daily Worker Newspaper, August 9, 1924, Page 11

‘BY ECONOMICUS. . HE foreign trade monopoly, which was introduced in Russia by the decree of April 22, 1918, implies the concentration of all foreign trade oper- ations in the hands of the State. By the decree above-mentionell concern- ing the nationalization of foreign trade, every transaction between the U. 8. S. R. and foreign countries is made thru specially authorized gov- ernment organizations. Any other commercial dealings with foreign countries are prohibited. The State organization for the con- duct of foreign trade was finally set up in June, 1920, with the institution of the People’s Commissariat for Foreign Trade. At that period the monopoly of foreign trade bore a strictly centralized character, no other State, co-operative, or private organ- ization, except for the Foreign Trade Commissariat, being allowed to enter into foreign commercial relations. The New Economic Policy. With the development of the new economic policy a reconstruction of the Foreign Trade Commissariat be- came necessary. By a decree dated August 9, 1921; the Foreign Trade Commissariat was @uthorized to direct all operations in providing raw material for the differ- ent government institutions as well as its own independent provision of ex- portable goods. In April, 1922, a further reorganiza- tion took place, including the founda- tion, under control of the Commis- sariat, the State Export and Import Department (the Gostorg). On March 13, 1922, by a decision of the All-Russian Central Executive Com- Negro Migration and its Causes (Continued from page 2.) tutions in the state, $735,000 was as- signed for the use of the whites and only $15,000 was devoted to institu- tions for the colored, It is this lack of educational facili- ties that serves as an impelling cause of unrest among the colored people. In whatever else the Negroes may differ they are one in their desire for education for their children. Natur- ally the better educational opportuni- ties of the North, together with the opportunity to earn better ‘wages, serve as a strong attraction to the colored people. Treatment of the Negro and the Courts. In general, the South regards the Negro as a thing. The treatment ac- corded him shows this very clearly. On July 19, 1924, THE DAILY WORKER carried a story of two Ne- groes who escaped from Georgia, where “actual Negro slavery, with no hypocritical pretense of obeying thea constitutional amendments exists.” It is a known fact, that in many small towns and villages Negroes are roughly handled and severely. pun- ished by the whites. The beating of farm hands on the large plantations in the lower South is so common that many colored people look upon every great plantation as a peon camp. In sawmills and other public works, the Negro is not treated any better. A “poem” written by a Southern Negro, descriptive of conditions as he sees them in the South, has two lines bear- ing on this point: “If a thousand whites work at a place —each one there is my boss.” In the cities and towns Negro sec- tions are usually shamefully neglected in the matter of street improvements, sewer facilities, water and light. Most of the larger Southern cities ex- mittee, some state enterprises were given the right to conduct foreign trade independently on condition that their contracts would be presented for approval to the Foreign Trade Commisariat or its Foreign Trade representatives. To secure closer co- operation between the Foreign Trade Commissariat’ and the different insti- tutions, representatives of the Su- preme Economic Council were added to the staff of the principal trade dele- gation. In addition, the Central Union of Co-operative Associations (Cen- trosoyus) received the right to con- clude, under the control of the Foreign Trade Commissariat, independent con- tracts with foreign co-operative asso- ciations, and to have its own repres- entatives abroad, ; Finally, by order of the Central Ex- ecutive Committee on March 13, 1923, the foundation of mixed companies was decided upon, with the Foreign Trade Commissariat or other similar body taking part in export trade and of controlling special branches of ex- port; they are at the same time per- mitted to build their own apparatus for this purpose. ~ Special Bodies. With the further development and differentiation of the separate branches of foreign trade, a number of special institutions for the sale of different classes of export, with the Foreign Trade Commissariat as part- ners, have been organized, such, for instance, as the Estallotorg, Nepht- export, Inotorg, and a number of ex- porting companies. Increasing activity made a further teorgaization necessary. By a decree of October 16, 1922, the more! impor- tant State enterprise received the receive at the hands of the courts and the guardians of the peace constitute another cause of the migration. Ne- groes largely distrust the courts. And for good reason. The Negro is made to feel that laws in the Sopth are de- signed for his punishment and not for his protection. “When a white man assaults a Negro—he is not pun- ished. When a white man kills a Negro he is usually freed without ex- tended legal praceedings, but the rule ag laid down by the Southern judge is usually that when a Negro kills a white man, whether or not in self de- fense, the Negro must die. Negro witnesses count for nothing except when testifying against members of their own race. The testimony of a white man is conclusive in every in- stance. In no sate of the South can a Negro woman get a verdict for se- duction, nor in most cases enter a suit against a white man; nor, where a white man is concerned, is the law of consent made to apply to a Negro girl.” (Scott—“Negro Migration Dur- ing the War.”—Page 19.) ———aanan The abnormal and unwaranted ac- tivities of Southern police officers are also responsible for deep grievances among Negroes. In some places 0 the South there is a system of em- ploying convicts on the roads of the county in which they are convicted. Colored people believe that the judges and the police in such counties have been the tools of powers higher up; they have been influenced by employ- ers in order to fill up convict camps. The constables and other petty offi- cers in many cases do not get any salary. They are rewarded in accord- ance with the number of arrests made. Naturally they get all out of it that the business will stand. The Negro suffers and pays the bill. Lynchings. 5 Add to this the horrible lynchings, the burning at stake of many Negroes whose names never get to our larger papers, and also consider the fact that right to conduct independent com- mercial operations abroad. They were compelled to inform the Foreign Trade Commissariat of every proposed business transaction, and the latter had the right of veto if neces- sary. The rights of these organizations which were admitted to participation in foreign trade were more precisely fixed by a series of degrees published on April 12, 1123. The first of these decrees lays down that the Trade De- legation of the U. S. S. R. must be considered the fundamental -com- mercial organs of the U. 8S. S. R. abroad. The industrial State enter- prises which have the right of con- ducting foreign trade operations can only buy and sell goods which they themselves produce or which their own industry is in need of. In some special cases, connected with the necessity of buying foreign currency, some exceptions may be made as re- gards the sale abroad of goods pur- chased in the U. S. S. R. Licenses. i “The second decree of April 12, 1923, deals with the general principles and machinery for the State regulation of foreign trade, and particularly with the fixing of the quantity which may be exported or imported in the case of articles subject to such restorations, and with the issue of certificates and licenses for such operations. . Foreign Trade Facilities. The quantities which can be ex- ported or imported are fixed by the Council of Labor and Defense on rec- ommendations from the Commissariat for Foreign Trade and State Economic Planning Commission. The Foreign Trade Commissariat and its local rep- multitudinous cheers of a vast con- course of people. The records of past years reveal the foul and deadly spirit of lawlessness practiced upon the Negro. Between 1891-1901, there were 1,460 lynchings; in the next decade (1901-1911)—782 lynchings; and for the next ten years ending with 1921,—the total. was 607. These figures do not include the rec- ord of the victims of race riots, The annual average number of lynchings during the whole period of 36 years for which statistics are avail- able was 94, as compared with 65 in 1920 and .63 in 1921. Eight of the 65 persons lynched in 1920 were burned alive, one was flog- ged to death, two were drowned, 15 were shot, and 31 were hanged. The manner of death in 8 cases is not known, A typical example of a lynching “ceremony” took place near Hubbard, Texas, in September, 1921. which included women and children, burned a Negro alive. While the vic- tim was slowly roasting various mem- bers of the mob amused themselves and entertained the rest by jabbing sticks into his mouth, nose and eyes. Immediate Causes of the Migration. Such are some of the most impor- tant economic and social causes of the Negro migration, This brings us now to a discussion of some of the immediate causes: During the World War and during the years immediately following the war, there was a great demand for la- bor in the North, As is well known, the industrial centers of the North were formerly supplied thousands of skilled, semi-skiled and unskilled im- migrants. The World War and then the restrictive immigration laws prac- tically shut off this supply. The man- ufacturers of the North began to look for a new reservoir of cheap labor. And they found it in the South among the discontented Negroes. A study of occupational statistics shows that the male Negroes who have recently been migrating North- ward in such large numbers have most of them become ina laborers, They have found employment in niills, factories, and stockyards rather than in hotels, restaurants, office buildings, and domestic kitchens. This is an- 7 Facilities for Trade with Soviet Russia resetatives allot the proportion of these quantities tothe different State enterprises and other organizations. The right to import and export goods must be proved by means of (1) cer- tificates, and (2) licenses. The latter give permission to conclude separate transactions. Usually the issue of cer- tiflcates and licenses is in the hands only of the Foreign Trade Commis- sariat and its local organs, in some cases after preliminary approval of a special export bureau. The holders of licenses must present them to the representatives of the For- eign Trade Commissariat abroad (Torgpred), but, if they have more profitable propositions made to them directly by private foreign firms than those made by the Torgpred, they have the right to make use of such private offers, but under only strict control of the organs of the Foreign Trade Commissariat. In such a case the Torgpred conterned must let the holders of the license know its decision not later than after two days in the goods quoted on the exchange, and in five days for other goods. Finally, in accordance with the third of the above-mentioned decrees, foreigners are permitted to start bus- iness negotiations, to open offices, agencies; and-so forth, inthe way pre- scribed by Chief Concessions Committee and with the approval of the Foreign Trade Commissariat, Government institutions, Staté en. terprises, co-operative associations, as well as private companies and per- sons, are only allowed to sign such contracts with such representatives of foreign firms who hold the above-men- tioned rights. — other distinctive feature of the new migration. Another of the immediate causes was the labor agent. The agents have played and still play the part of mid- dieman in the exodus. They are the representatives of the manufacturers and the industrial corporations of the North. They have been unscrupulous as to means used for soliciting Ne- groes to be sent out of the South. One of the agencies at Bessemer has issued attractive circulars from time to time as a means of advertising. They contain such phrases: “Let’s go back North where there are no la- bor throubles, no strikes, no lockouts; large coal, good wages, fair treatment; two weeks’ pay; good houses; go free; will advance you money if nec- essary; scores of men have written us thanking us for sending them; go now while you have the chance.” Finally, another of the most potent A mob|immediate causes of the exodus has been the persuasion of friends and relatives already in the North, and the personal appeals in the form of let- ters. The United States mail was about the most active and efficient 1a- bor agent. In every community of the black belt letters have been received from former residents. These letters contained more than glowing accounts of the “better life,” “better wages,” and “better conditions” generally. In many cases, hundreds of thousands of dollars accompanied the letter to pay traveling expenses North for those hopelessly sick of the drab of life of want and debt on the plantations. This outlines the causes of ‘the re- cent Negro migration. The Negro is migrating because the South has stolen his political rights and cur: tailed his civil liberties; he is migrat- ing because he desires to escape the exploitation of the Southern land- lords; jhe is migrating because his children are denied an education; be- cause he is refused common jurisdic. tion; because he is segregated in the cities and condemned to the Jim Crow car; the Negro is migrating be- cause the South holds over him the ultimate terror of mob violence and Judge Lynch, RIVERVIEW—RAIN OR SHINE AUGUST 10th—SUNDAY PRESS PICNIC DAY the regulations of the Reetnininemntnatteseinneemeet: