South Codifies 'Jim Crow' Laws

The Interstate Commerce Commission says yes to Jim Crow.

The recent decision by the Inter-State Commerce Commission as to the rights of negro passengers on railroad trains is heartily endorsed by leading Southern newspapers. The decision was rendered in the case of a colored preacher who bought a first-class ticket from Augusta to Atlanta, but was compelled to ride in a "Jim Crow" car, half of which is devoted to smokers. The Commission held that the railroad company may separate passengers according to color, but that it must make the cars provided for white and colored passengers equal in comfort, accommodations, and equipment for persons paying the same fare. "Of course," says the Macon Telegraph, "the Commission could have decided this case in no other way. Clean, comfortable cars should be set apart for negro passengers. They are required to pay the same fare as passengers in the best coaches, and no discrimination should be made against them in the matters of accommodations and the preservation of order in their separate cars." The Telegraph says that the Central Road sets apart a first-class coach, as good as any on the train, for the exclusive use of colored passengers, and no white person is allowed to ride in that car, as no negro is permitted in the first-class coach for whites. This plan, it thinks, meets the full requirements of justice to all, and it considers it the most satisfactory arrangement that can be made for both races.

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